Day After Day #210: Cuts You Up

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Cuts You Up (1989)

Certain songs are emblematic of certain eras. When I hear Peter Murphy's "Cuts You Up," I'm reminded of early 1990 and that time when alt-rock was starting to get noticed beyond the reach of college kids and disaffected 20somethings. It was just before Nirvana et al. blew up, but bands like U2, R.E.M. and the B-52s were reaching mass audiences and you could feel things changing.

Still, it was pretty wild to see people like Peter Murphy getting played on adult alternative stations. By this point, Murphy was already a legend from his years in legendary goth act Bauhaus, which was formed in Northampton, England in 1978. The rail-thin Murphy cut a striking figure, all limbs and cheekbones, and his baritone voice was unique; Bauhaus was best known for creepy songs like "Bela Lugosi's Dead" and "She's in Parties," as well as a cover of Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust." The band split up in 1983 and Murphy went on to form Dalis Car with bassist Mick Karn, recording an album that didn't sell well. Murphy went solo after that, releasing Should the World Fail to Fall Apart in 1986. His second album, 1988's Love Hysteria, had a minor hit with "All Night Long," which got some play on MTV and college radio, bringing Murphy to a whole new generation of fans.

Murphy's third solo album, Deep, came out in December 1989 and the single "Cuts You Up" catapulted him to a new level of fame. He had dyed his hair platinum blonde and went to an accessible alternative rock sound; this happened to mesh well with where things were going in the U.S. music scene. "Cuts You Up" was released in March 1990 and it definitely had a Bowie vibe. A violin part sweeps over acoustic guitars as Murphy's confident vocals lead the way.

"I find you in the morning/After dreams of distant signs/You pour yourself over me/Like the sun through the blinds/You lift me up/And get me out/Keep me walking/But never shout/Hold the secret close/I hear you say/You know the way/It throws about/It takes you in/And spits you out."

The video was fairly iconic, featuring Murphy walking through the woods and singing between shadows. It was everywhere on MTV for a few months there in '90. The mellow vibe of the song led to airplay on adult alternative stations as well as rock outlets; your mom could definitely dig it without finding anything to get upset about.

Lyrically, it sort of has a new-age vibe even as it never really specifies what's cutting you up. Life? Love? Drugs? The music business? Does it really matter?

"You know the way/It twists and turns/Changing color/Spinning yarns/You know the way/It leaves you dry/It cuts you up/And takes you high/You know the way/It's painted gold/Is it honey/Is it gold/You know the way/It throws about/It takes you in/And spits you out/Oh, cuts you up."

Whatever it was about, the song struck a chord with U.S. audiences, spending seven weeks at #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart; it also hit #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #10 on the Album Rock Tracks chart. The album Deep got up to #44 on the Billboard 200 chart.

"You know the way/It throws about/It takes you in/And spits you out/It spits you out/When you desire/To conquer it/To feel you're higher/To follow it/You must be clean/With mistakes/That you do mean/Move the heart/Switch the pace/Look for what seems out of place."

Murphy and his band were touring the U.S. while the song was popular and experienced big crowds for a while, although the follow up single "A Strange Kind of Love" was less successful. Hopes for a further breakthrough were dashed when Murphy's follow up album, 1992's Holy Smoke, only sold 100,000 copies in the U.S. By the time the album came out, grunge fever had kicked in and there was less interest in Murphy's mystical art rock ballads. He was wary of becoming a crossover, so may have pulled back a little as well to avoid making "Cuts You Up Again."

After Holy Smoke, Murphy moved to Turkey permanently with his family. Eventually, he released an ambient pop album called Cascade in 1995 and four more albums since. Murphy reunited with Bauhaus in 1998 for a tour, then again from 2005-2008 and in 2019 and 2022. 

For some, Murphy is a one-hit wonder who had a big song in 1990 and then nothing, but clearly, those people are stupid.

Day After Day #209: Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4). 

Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (1969)

It's not easy being a musical genius. There's so much pressure to keep delivering at a high level. Some can handle it, some can't.

In 1964, Sly Stone got his start in the music business as a radio DJ in San Mateo, Calif., while also working as a record producer for Autumn Records for SF-area groups like the Beau Brummels and the Mojo Men. In 1966, he started a band called Sly & the Stoners, while his brother Freddie formed Freddie & the Stone Souls. The two combined their bands to form Sly and the Family Stone, with Sly on guitar and organ, Freddie on guitar and Larry Graham on bass; they added a gospel group called the Heavenly Tones as their backup singers. The group was also multiracial, featuring a white drummer and sax player, which was unusual for the time.

A CBS exec saw a performance and signed the band to Epic Records, where they released A Whole New Thing in 1967. Critics liked it, but it didn't sell well. The group scored a hit with "Dance to the Music" in 1968, which hit #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Sly and Freddie's sister Rose joined the group just before the single came out. The album of the same name fared well, but the group's third album, Life, was less successful. 

Sly and the Family Stone persisted and released "Everyday People" in late 1968 and had their first #1 hit. It was the lead single for the band's fourth album, 1969's Stand!, which sold more than 3 million copies. It also featured "I Want to Take You Higher" and "You Can Make It If You Try." The band headlined the Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969, a few weeks before Woodstock; the festival was long forgotten until Questlove made his 2021 documentary Summer of Soul, which featured long-lost footage from the event. Sly and the Family Stone then scored a slot at Woodstock and was one of the highlights of the festival.

The group was riding high, but was having problems. The Stone brothers weren't getting along with Graham, the Black Panthers were demanding that Sly replace the white members of the group with black musicians, and the band moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles and was getting way into drugs. Sly reportedly carried a violin case filled with drugs wherever he went, mainly cocaine and PCP. For the nearly two-year stretch from late 1969 to fall 1971, the band released only one single...but what a single.

"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" was released on a double A-side single with "Everybody is a Star" in December 1969 with the intention of being on an album in the works, but the album was never finished. The song is extra funky, with Graham provided an early example of slap bass while Sly and Freddie get the wah wah guitars going. Jerry Martini and Cynthia Robinson provide horn accompaniment and the song sounds like a celebration, but the lyrics tell another story.

"Lookin' at the devil, grinnin' at his gun/Fingers start shakin', I begin to run/Bullets start chasin', I begin to stop/We begin to wrestle, I was on the top/I want to thank you fallettinme be mice elf agin/Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin."

Sly was making grammarians everywhere wince with his spelling, but clearly there was more going on here than just being thankful. Shit was going down, whether it was fighting with the police or someone else, and it was intense.

"Stiff all in the collar, fluffy in the face/Chit chat chatter tryin', stuffy in the place/Thank you for the party, but I could never stay/Many things is on my mind, words get in the way/I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin/Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin."

The third verse references some of the group's hits, but it's the last verse that hits hard. 

"Flamin' eyes of people fear, burnin' into you/Many men are missin' much, hatin' what they do/Youth and truth are makin' love/Dig it for a starter/Dyin' young is hard to take/Sellin' out is harder."

Sly was getting pressure to make his music more commercial, so that sellout line and possibly the entire song seem like a middle finger in the label's direction. Whatever the case, the public wasn't freaked out by the song, which went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970. It ended up being included on the Greatest Hits comp released in November 1970, which went quintuple platinum.

In 1971, the band returned with "Family Affair," which became another #1 hit and was the lead single from There's a Riot Goin' On. The album was a dark take on the social issues of the early '70s. After the album's release, Sly and Graham and their respective entourages got into a post-concert brawl. Graham quit the band and started Graham Central Station. There were two more Family Stone albums before the band split up in 1975. Sly released High on You in '75 and Heard You Missed Me, Well I'm Back in '76; the latter was billed as a Sly and the Family Stone album in name only. Sly was dropped by Epic and signed with Warner Bros., releasing Back on the Right Track in 1979.

He toured with George Clinton and Funkadelic in the late '70s and early '80s, appearing on the 1981 Funkadelic album The Electric Spanking of War Babies. He started working on an album with Clinton, but recording stopped after Clinton left Warner Bros. in late 1981. After Sly disappeared, producer Stewart Levine completed the album, released as Ain't But the One Way in 1982. He released occasional singles throughout the '80s, but also continued to struggle with drug addiction. He stopped releasing music after a 1987 arrest and conviction for cocaine possession and use. In 2006, a Sly and the Family Stone tribute took place at the Grammy Awards, which originally was supposed to include a band reunion but it was scrapped. Sly came out at one point and sang part of "I Want to Take You Higher" before waving to the audience and leaving the stage.

In 2011, it was reported he was homeless and living in a van in Los Angeles. Sly reportedly cleaned up during the pandemic and worked with a ghostwriter on his autobiography, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), which was released last year.

The song "Thank You" has been covered a few times over the years, including by the post-punk band Magazine in 1980 and Soundgarden during a 1989 John Peel session (later included on the 2014 comp Echo of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across the Path." It was also sampled in Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" and Vanilla Ice's "People's Choice."

Completely Conspicuous 641: The Troubled Teens

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of the 2010s. Also, happy 18th birthday to the show! Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Wrapping up our year-by-year look at rock music starting with 1970
• Each of us picking a favorite album for each year from 2011-2020
• Phil's 2011 #1: Bluesy collection from Tedeschi Trucks Band 
• Susan Tedeschi grew up in New England
• Jay's 2011 #1: Concept album by Toronto's Fucked Up
• Phil's 2012 #1: Punchy punk rippers from Parquet Courts
• Neil Young and the art of the 15-minute song
• Jay's 2012 #1: Ty Segall Band with a heavy garage rock/psych sound
• Phil's 2013 #1: Laid-back slacker jams from Philly's Kurt Vile
• Jay's 2013 #1: An epic Queens of the Stone Age album written after a near-death experience
• Phil's 2014 #1: TV On the Radio's last album and first since bass player died
• Jay's 2014 #1: Expansive tour de force from Parquet Courts
• Phil's 2015 #1: Courtney Barnett combines conversational lyrics with hot guitar
• Jay's 2015 #1: Jeff Rosenstock delivers a pop-punk masterpiece
• On being the old guy at rock shows
• Next time: 2016-2020

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 #208: What Color is Blood?

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4). 

What Color is Blood? (2014)

Last week, I wrote about one of my favorite current artists, Jeff Rosenstock. Another band that I've really taken to over the last decade-plus is Parquet Courts. 

Currently based in NYC, the band was started by Andrew Savage and Austin Brown, who were both students at the University of North Texas in Denton. Andrew's brother Max was a drummer and the three of them relocated to Brooklyn after college and added bassist Sean Yeaton to form Parquet Courts in 2010. 

Their debut album, 2011's American Specialties, was released as a cassette. I first heard them two years later when their 2012 album Light Up Gold was reissued on What's Your Rupture? and caught some attention, especially the songs "Stoned and Starving" and "Borrowed Time." The band's post-punk sound was familiar but fresh, combining literate lyrics with punchy hooks. I picked up the EP Tally All the Things That You Broke (released under the name Parkay Quarts) that fall and dug it as well.

They were getting a lot of Pavement comparisons, which I didn't really hear; to me, they sounded like CBGB-era Television, which I completely dug. In 2014, Parquet Courts released Sunbathing Animal in June and I saw them at TT the Bears (R.I.P.) a few weeks later, headlining a show with another hot new act, Protomartyr, opening up. PC totally ripped it up, with Andrew Savage handling lead vocals on most songs and Brown taking a few. 

On the new album, the band was very conscious to avoid making Light Up Gold 2. They tried not to wear their influences on their proverbial sleeves, exploring different sounds and tempos while still rocking out and also moving away from the stoner/slacker tag that some were putting on them. On "What Color is Blood?" Parquet Courts dug into a midtempo jam as Andrew Savage sings about looking inward, literally.

"What color is blood? Still the same that it was?/Is it still good at what it does?/'Cause I've been needing a new vein line/Going from my guts to my heart to my mind/What's sharp as a knife, followed me all my life/Waits, never rests, til it eats me alive?/Snarlin', darlin', I don't fear nothing/Gushing, I can hear myself leak/I'm roaming outside of the signal/Where it slips in and out/Charges apply, but your heart beats louder/Beyond the dominion of doubt/Excuse me as I slip on out."

The song chugs along as Savage keeps asking questions.

"How is agency built in a life unfulfilled?/Tanned slow and low in the amines of guilt/Hung, stretched, beaten and dried like skin/Smooth, new and shiny but so paper-thin/What tastes like betrayal, gazes naked and pale?/Sneaks into you like it got outta jail?/The blues creeping down you from your head to your tail/The kind that don't let you sing along/I'm listening to a different station/Frequent on a different band/Slightly harder to find but with tuning and time/You won't touch that dial again/Excuse me as I slip on out."

Brown drops a hot guitar solo down before the song wraps up.

Sunbathing Animal got mostly good reviews (it was my favorite album of 2014, for whatever that's worth) and got up to #55 on the Billboard 200 chart. Parquet Courts didn't rest on their laurels, releasing Content Nausea in the fall of 2014 (also under the name Parkay Quarts; Yeaton and Max Savage didn't play on it because of other commitments). The band has continued to release excellent music, with three more studio albums and a collaboration with Italian composer Danielle Luppi from 2016 to 2021, exploring different sounds like dance music. Andrew Savage has also released two solo albums, including last year's Several Songs About Fire.

Although they haven't released an album in three years, Andrew Savage said last year Parquet Courts is still together and will record again in the future.

Day After Day #207: The Message

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4). 

The Message (1982)

When "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five came out in 1982, it was hailed as one of the first hip hop songs to focus on social issues instead of having a good time or boasting about being the best rapper. But the way it came about was interesting, given that only person from the group was involved in making the song.

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were formed in the South Bronx in 1978 by Grandmaster Flash, Kidd Creole, Keef Cowboy, Melle Mel, Scorpio and Rahiem. They started out playing parties and quickly established a reputation as the top rap group in NYC. They signed a contract with Sugar Hill Records, which released the first big hip hop single "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang. The group released a few singles and then the live album The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel.

"The Message" was actually put together by studio percussion player Ed "Duke Bootee" Fletcher, who played with Sugar Hill's house band (which included bassist Doug Wimbish, currently of Living Colour). Label head Sylvia Robinson heard Fletcher playing a rhythm on a plastic bottle and encouraged him to record it. Eventually, Fletcher and producer Jiggs Chase were trying to come up with lyrics when Fletcher came up with the song's classic refrain: "Don't push me, 'cause I'm close to the edge. I'm trying not to lose my head. It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from going under."

The song was intended for the Sugarhill Gang, but they didn't want to do it. And Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five weren't interested, either, because it was too serious. They wanted to stick to party tracks. But Melle Mel stuck around and worked on it with Fletcher on synths and percussion, a drum machine and guitarist Skip McDonald. Fletcher, who wasn't even an official member of the group, took the intro, chorus and two verses and Mel took the other verses. Fletcher's raps were just supposed to be reference vocals for someone else to be on the finished track, but Robinson liked them so much she kept them in the song.

The song kicks off with an iconic squiggly synth line and then Duke Bootee with that intro: "It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from going under."

Then Melle Mel jumps in. "Broken glass everywhere/People pissing on the stairs, you know they just don't care/I can't take the smell, can't take the noise/Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice/Rats in the front room, roaches in the back/Junkies in the alley with a baseball bat/I tried to get away, but I couldn't get far/'Cause a man with a tow truck repossessed my car/Don't push me 'cause I'm close to the edge/I'm trying not to lose my head."

Fletcher said he wasn't trying to be political, but hold a mirror up to what was happening on the street.

"My brother's doing bad, stole my mother's TV/Says she watches too much, it's just not healthy/All My Children in the daytime, Dallas at night/Can't even see the game or the Sugar Ray fight/The bill collectors, they ring my phone/And scare my wife when I'm not home/Got a bum education, double-digit inflation/Can't take the train to the job, there's a strike at the station/Neon King Kong standing on my back/Can't stop to turn around, broke my sacroiliac/A mid-range migraine, cancered membrane/Sometimes I think I'm going insane, I swear I might hijack a plane."

Mel ends the song with a verse from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's "Superrappin'," which came out in 1979. "A child is born with no state of mind/Blind to the ways of mankind/God is smiling on you, but he's frowning too/Because only God knows what you'll go through/You'll grow in the ghetto living second rate/And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate/The places you play and where you stay/Looks like one great big alleyway/You'll admire all the number-book takers/Thugs, pimps and pushers and the big money makers/Driving big cars spending 20s and 10s/And you wanna grow up to be just like them, huh/Pickpocket peddlers, even panhandlers/You say, 'I'm cool, huh, I'm no fool'/But then you wind up droppin' out of high school/Now you're unemployed, all null and void/Walking 'round like your Pretty Boy Floyd/Turned stick-up kid, but look what you done did/Got sent up for an eight-year bid."

At 7:11, the song was unusually long but it was an immediate hit in the dance clubs and on the radio. It went to #4 on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart (yes, that was an actual thing), #12 on the Hot Dance Club play chart and #62 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was hailed for bringing social consciousness to hip hop, but it also signified that rappers were bigger stars than the DJs in hip hop groups. It was sampled in many songs and even served as an inspiration for Phil Collins' evil laugh in Genesis' hit song "Mama."

In 1983, Grandmaster Flash sued Sugar Hill Records for $5 million in unpaid royalties, despite not appearing on any of the group's studio recordings. The lawsuit resulted in the song "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" being credited to Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel; this led Melle Mel, Scorpio and Cowboy to leave after the song became a hit. They formed Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five in 1984. Meanwhile, Grandmaster Flash, Kidd Creole and Rahiem went to Elektra Records and added three new members, going under the name Grandmaster Flash. They released three albums. In addition to releasing music on his own, Mel also appeared in Chaka Khan's "I Feel for You."

The original lineup of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five reunited for a charity performance in 1987 and then released a new album in 1988, but it didn't do well and the group split afterwards. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, having inspired countless artists over the years.

Day After Day #206: Head On

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4). 

Head On (1989)

Some bands are just cool. They don't have to try to affect this image, they just are. The Jesus and Mary Chain are eminently cool, and they have one of the coolest songs of all time.

The post-punk band was formed in Scotland in 1983 by brother Jim (vocals, guitar) and William Reid (guitar). The initial lineup included Douglas Hart on bass and Murray Dalglish on drums, but Bobby Gillespie stepped in for Dalglish for the recording of the band's debut album, 1985's Psychocandy. The band developed a reputation for being difficult, playing short gigs (20 minutes) with their backs to the audience, refusing to talk to them. After some incidents of audience members throwing bottles at the band, the U.K. press tagged the band as "the new Sex Pistols" and the group was banned from playing in several communities.

The album was legitimately great, combining pop melodies with plenty of guitar noise, providing a blueprint for countless shoegaze bands to follow. After the album came out, Gillespie left to focus on his own band, Primal Scream. JAMC released Darklands in 1987, which went to #5 on the U.K. Albums Chart. The band's rowdy rep continued, with Jim Reid responding to some hecklers in Toronto by hitting one in the head with his microphone stand; he was arrested and spent a night in jail, but the charge was eventually dropped after he apologized and made a charitable donation.

The third JAMC studio album, 1989's Automatic, was credited to the Reid brothers, who performed along to a drum machine and synthesized bass (drummer Richard Thomas played on one song). The album got mostly poor reviews mainly because of the mechanized rhythm section, but in retrospect, Automatic was one of the group's stronger efforts. The first single, "Blues from a Gun," was JAMC's most successful song in the U.S. to that point (hitting #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart).

The second song, "Head On," is that cool song I mentioned earlier. It goes against type, with none of the band's usual feedback. The key is Jim Reid's low-key delivery, which sums up his and the band's coolness succinctly.

"As soon as I get my head 'round you/I come around catching sparks off you/I get an electric charge from you/That secondhand living, it just won't do/And the way I feel tonight/Oh, I could die and I wouldn't mind/And there's something going on inside/Makes you want to feel, makes you want to try/Makes you want to blow the stars from the sky/I can't stand up, I can't cool down/I can't get my head off the ground."

The Reids were no longer stirring up violent crowds, but they were calmly and efficiently delivering post-punk hotness.

"As soon as I get my head 'round you/I come around catching sparks off you/And all I ever got from you/Was all I ever took from you/And the world could die in pain/And I wouldn't feel no shame/And there's nothing holding me to blame/Makes you want to feel, makes you want to try/Makes you want to blow the stars from the sky/And I'm taking myself to the dirty part of town/Where all my troubles can't be found."

The song performed better in the U.S., where it hit #2 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, than the U.K., where it got to #57 on the Singles Chart.

Just two years later, the Pixies covered "Head On" on their album Trompe le Monde and released it as a single. It's a little louder and done pretty well, but the original still wins out. A few others have covered it, including David Hasselhoff of all people (see below at your own risk).

After Automatic came out, JAMC released an EP called Rollercoaster and then headlined a tour with My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr. and Blur. In 1992, the band released Honey's Dead and joined the second lineup of the Lollapalooza tour (which I saw in Mansfield, Mass.). JAMC recorded with a full band for 1994's Stoned and Dethroned and scored a hit with "Sometimes Always," on which Jim Reid duetted with Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star, who was dating William Reid at the time.

They released one more studio album, 1998's Munki, before breaking up. The split was announced in 1999, but the band wasn't getting along on the previous year's tour. On the final night of the tour in Providence, the promoter ran off with the band's money and the band reportedly got in a fight with the cast of the show Riverdance. William Reid began a solo career as Lazycame, while Jim Reid founded a band called Freeheat. 

JAMC reunited in 2007 to perform at Coachella and released a new song for the soundtrack of the NBC show Heroes. The band toured North America in 2012 and has toured several times since, releasing new albums in 2017 and this year, the strong collection Glasgow Eyes. But they'll never be cooler than on "Head On." 

Day After Day #205: Cars

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4). 

Cars (1979)

The late '70s are so long ago now that it seems like nobody remembers them anymore. It was a pretty cool time if you were 12 years old. There was a lot going on in the music world. The old arena rock bands were still around, but there were also some cool sounds emerging from the underground. 

I was just a kid in the Toronto 'burbs listening to AM radio at the time, so I wasn't aware of everything happening, but artists like the B-52s, the Clash, Joe Jackson and Blondie were breaking through and I was digging all of them. Another one who blew up in late '79/early '80 was Gary Numan. He had spent a few years as the frontman for Tubeway Army, which started as a punk band and then dove into a synthesizer-drenched new wave sound. The group had a hit with "Are Friends Electric?" (which went to #1 in the U.K. in 1979); "Down in the Park" didn't chart but has become a fan favorite.

In mid-'79, Numan started recording his next album and added a new backing band. He did a John Peel session and opted to debut four new songs and drop the Tubeway Army name. For The Pleasure Principle, Numan decided not to have any guitars on the album, opting for a completely electronic and robotic sound, exploring how technology would change society. 

The first single, "Cars," was released in the U.K. in August 1979 and went to #1; the single was released in North America in February 1980 and went to #9 in the U.S. and #1 in Canada, where I was living. It was everywhere on the radio and it was so different from anything else out at the time. 

There's not a whole lot in terms of lyrics, but Numan sings it like an android and musically, it sounds like it was dropped in from outer space. The lyrics were inspired by a road rage incident, Numan said in an interview. "I was in traffic in London and had a problem with some people in front. They tried to beat me up and get me out of the car. I locked the doors and eventually drove up on the pavement and got away from them. It's kind of to do with that. It explains how you can feel safe inside a car in the modern world...When you're in it, your whole mentality is different...It's like your own little personal empire with four wheels on it."

He also said he wrote the whole song in 30 minutes, starting with the bass riff.

"Here in my car/I feel safest of all/I can lock all my doors/It's the only way to live in cars/Here in my car/I can only receive/I can listen to you/It keeps me stable for days in cars."

At the time, the song was looked at as a novelty, especially on this side of the Atlantic. Much like the song "Pop Muzik" by M, which was also a big hit around that time; the U.S. equivalent might have been Devo. But like that band, Numan had a lot more to offer, both before and after "Cars" came out. 

"Here in my car/Where the image breaks down/Will you visit me, please/If I open my door in cars?/Here in my car/I know I've started to think/About leaving tonight/Although nothing seems right in cars."

The video was also a hit, although this was a full year before MTV would launch. There was a local show in Toronto called The New Music that would regularly air videos and I saw "Cars" there, as well as "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads, "Lucky Number" by Lene Lovich, "Don't Stand So Close to Me" by the Police and many more. 

I never checked out The Pleasure Principle at the time, but I did many years later (like the mid-2000s) and man, it is so good. Numan never had another hit in the U.S. after "Cars," but he's been successful in the U.K. over the years. He went in a more industrial direction in the '90s, inspired by Nine Inch Nails, who were originally inspired by him. Numan is still recording (he's released 19 solo albums) and touring and has definitely become a revered figure in the alternative music world.

Stuck In Thee Garage #538: July 26, 2024

After the last several years of general insanity, it may be hard to imagine being in a perpetual state of happiness, but hopefully there are still things that make you happy. One of mine is putting together a two-hour radio show every week. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played songs about happiness in hour 2 and it was glorious. It could even put a smile on this dour character's face.

This playlist loves television:

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

Los Campesinos! - The Order of the Seasons/All Hell

Oneida - Split/Expensive Air

Fucked Up - Another Day/Another Day

Chime School - Give Your Heart Away/The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel

Guided By Voices - Fictional Environment Dream/Strut of Kings

Nada Surf - New Propeller/Moon Mirror

Wilco - Hot Sun/Hot Sun Cool Shroud EP

Pedro the Lion - Tall Pines/Santa Cruz

Neutrals - Last Orders/New Town Dream

Ekko Astral - Baethoven/Pink Balloons

DIIV - In Amber/Frog Boiling in Water

Ex-Hyena - In Slow Motion/A Kiss of the Mind

Redd Kross - Lay Down and Die/Redd Kross

The Folk Implosion - Right Hand Over the Heart/Walk Thru Me

ORB - Morph/Tailem Bend

Hour 2: Happy

The Breeders - Happiness is a Warm Gun/Pod

Built to Spill - Happiness/Ancient Melodies of the Future

Purple Mountains - All My Happiness is Gone/Purple Mountains

Bob Mould - First Time Joy/Silver Age

Krill - Happy/Krill

Dead Meadow - I'm So Glad/The Nothing They Need

The Jam - Happy Together/The Gift

Public Image Ltd. - Happy/9

The Buzzcocks - Everybody's Happy Nowadays/Singles Going Steady

Sly and the Family Stone - (You Caught Me) Smilin'/There's a Riot Goin' On

Prince - Private Joy/Controversy

The Rolling Stones - Happy/Exile on Main St.

Drive-By Truckers - Hell No, I Ain't Happy/Decoration Day

Matthew Sweet - Happiness/Kids in the Hall Brain Candy soundtrack

Death Lurks - Happiness Pie/Kids in the Hall Brain Candy soundtrack

Sloan - Glad to Be Here/B Sides Win: extras, bonus tracks and b-sides 1992-2008

Van Halen - Happy Trails/Diver Down

Fire up the Rocktron 3000 RIGHT HERE, PAL!

Day After Day #204: Rise Above

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4). 

Rise Above (1981)

It can't be easy being the fourth singer in a beloved band, but when 20-year-old Henry Rollins had the chance to become the frontman for Black Flag in 1981, he didn't hesitate. 

He had already been a part of the D.C. hardcore scene, singing occasionally with the Teen Idles and Bad Brains before singing for the short-lived band State of Alert (S.O.A.). He became a fan of Black Flag and when they were on the East Coast, he jumped up on state and sang a song with them. Their current vocalist, Dez Cadena, was looking to switch to guitar and the band, impressed with Rollins' singing, asked him to audition. Encouraged by his friend Ian MacKaye, Rollins tried out and was hired. He gave up his job slinging ice cream and moved to Los Angeles with the band.

Black Flag had already had Keith Morris, Ron Reyes and Cadena as singers and released a bunch of singles, but they hadn't released a full-length album yet. They'd had a few attempts that didn't work out with the other singers. The band recorded backing tracks without Rollins, who overdubbed his vocals afterward. Rollins wasn't a trained singer, but his powerful bellow propelled the music to new heights. Guitarist and band leader Greg Ginn wrote most of the songs, including "TV Party," "Six Pack" and album opener "Rise Above," which became one of the defining songs of the hardcore era.

"Rise Above" opens with a descending guitar line before the pulverizing riff kicks in and Rollins launches into the song's rallying cry.

"Jealous cowards who try to control/Rise above, we're gonna rise above/They distort what we say/Rise above, we're gonna rise above/Try and stop what we do/Rise above, we're gonna rise above/When they can't do it themselves/Rise above, we're gonna rise above/We are tired of your abuse/Try to stop us, it's no use."

The song builds an us-against-them sense of community, railing against the narrow-minded norms of society at large that marginalizes anyone who looks or acts differently. Rollins was an effective frontman, super-intense and aggro, railing against society and perfectly willing to throw down with anyone in the audience who pushes him too far. 

"Society's arms of control/Rise above, we're gonna rise above/Think they're smart, can't think for themselves/Rise above, we're gonna rise above/Laugh at us behind our backs/Rise above, we're gonna rise above/I find satisfaction in what they lack/Rise above, we're gonna rise above."

The album was relatively ignored by the press at the time, but in retrospect has become revered as one of the most important hardcore albums ever. It veered from the intensity of "Rise Above," "Damaged I" and "Depression" to the less serious "TV Party" and "Six Pack." Ginn's electrifying guitar work was another factor that set the band apart.

After Damaged, Black Flag dealt with multiple personnel changes: bassist Chuck Dukowski was pushed out and Kira Roessler replaced him, while there were several drummers. Legal disputes with the band's label Unicorn Records resulted in an injunction that prevented Black Flag from releasing another album until 1984, when they would release three full-length albums on Ginn's label SST. Rollins and Ginn remained the constants in the band, but relentless touring and in-band tensions led to Ginn finally ending Black Flag in 1986.

Rollins went on to become a writer and actor and led his own group called the Rollins Band. Ginn played with multiple bands over the years and held a few Black Flag reunions. The band reformed in 2013 with Ginn, Reyes and Gregory Moore on drums (as well as "Dale Nixon" on bass, which was a pseudonym used by Ginn). The resulting album, What The..., was not well received. Pro skater Mike Vallely took over as the band's singer. In recent years, the Vallely and Ginn-led Black Flag has been touring.

Black Flag was one of the most influential punk bands, with the group's logo becoming iconic. I don't have any desire to see a Vallely-fronted Black Flag, but the early albums like Damaged and The First Four Years comp are indispensable.

Day After Day #203: The Killing Moon

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4). 

The Killing Moon (1984)

Some songs are just meant to be epic. They just play out as widescreen David Lean extravaganzas, as opposed to something a little less dramatic. Echo & the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch claims to have woken up one morning with the phrase "Fate up against your will. Through the thick and thin. He will wait until you give yourself to him" in his head.

McCulloch then played David Bowie's "Space Oddity" backwards and came up with different chords that made up "The Killing Moon," the first single off the band's 1984 album Ocean Rain. 

The post-punk band was formed in 1978 in Liverpool, England, by McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson. They were joined by drummer Pete de Freitas in 1980. The band's debut album Crocodiles was a hit, hitting the top 20 of the U.K. Albums Chart. Echo's third album, Porcupine, went to #2 in the U.K.  

For their fourth album, Echo went all out, incorporating a string section and having de Freitas use brushes to make the drums sound jazzier. McCulloch's lyrics leaned toward a spacey vibe.

"Under blue moon, I saw you/So soon you'll take me/Up in your arms, too late to beg you/Or cancel it, though I know it must be/The killing time/Unwillingly mine/Fate/Up against your will/Through the thick and thin/He will wait until/You give yourself to him."

Meanwhile, Sergeant used a twangy guitar line he had recorded while tuning his guitar.

"In starlit nights, I saw you/So cruelly, you kissed me/Your lips, a magic world/Your sky, all hung with jewels/The killing moon/Will come too soon."

The lush song ended up reaching #9 on the U.K. Singles Chart and the album went to #4 in the U.K. The band released a single in 1985, "Bring on the Dancing Horses," and a compilation album. Drummer de Freitas left the band and was replaced by former Haircut 100 drummer Blair Cunningham, who left after the 1986 tour and was replaced former ABC drummer David Palmer. The band recorded a self-titled album in 1987 with Palmer, but de Freitas returned and re-recorded the parts. McCulloch left the band in 1988 and was replaced by Noel Burke. Meanwhile, de Freitas died in a motorcycle accident in 1989. The band released a few singles before breaking up in 1993.

In 1994, McCulloch and Sergeant started working together as Electrafixion. A few years later, Pattinson joined them and they started calling themselves Echo & the Bunnymen again and released the 1997 album Evergreen. Just as they were releasing an album in 1999, Pattinson quit to take care of his mother. McCulloch and Sergeant continued to tour and record as Echo & the Bunnymen, releasing albums in 2005, 2009 and 2014, as well as a 2018 album of reworked orchestral versions of older songs and two new ones.

There's no shame in peaking with an epic song. It was used in the 2001 movie Donnie Darko and has been covered by Pavement and Chvrches.

Day After Day #202: The Candidate

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4). 

The Candidate (1991)

For a brief shining moment in the early '90s, guitar-based indie rock got its due. It wasn't just Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but plenty of others who broke through, if only for a short while. For Chicago's Urge Overkill, that came in 1993 when they signed with Geffen Records, but they had been building momentum for a few years prior.

The band was formed in 1986 by Nathan Kaatrud (who went by the stage name Nash Kato) on vocals and guitars, Eddie "King" Roeser on vocals/guitars/bass and Pat Byrne on drums. The name Urge Overkill came from a phrase in the Parliament song "Funkentelechy." The trio released an EP, Strange, I..., that was recorded by Steve Albini. The band's full-length debut, Jesus Urge Superstar, came out in 1989, produced by Albini and with a new drummer, Kriss Bataille. It's loud, unpolished noise rock, but you can hear the melodies buried within.

1990's Americruiser was produced by Butch Vig and found the band getting a little more commercial with their sound, adding some Stonesy rock to their punk foundation. Jack Watt played drums on this album, which had a college radio hit with "Ticket to LA." For their next album, Urge added John Rowan (aka Blackie Onassis) on drums and recorded The Supersonic Storybook, which came out in 1991. It was produced by Albini and named by Jim Ellison of Material Issue, a friend of the band. Onassis brought some power to the drums while Kato and Roeser broke out some big arena rock riffs to the table. The band also embraced irony, wearing matching UO medallions and smoking jackets and embracing a '70s hipster vibe that the punk scene they came out of didn't always appreciate.

"The Candidate" was sung by Roeser, who had a gruff rasp of a voice, and featured a monster riff. 

"I am the candidate, I hope you're voting for me/Candid candidate, making promises so easily/I am the candidate/But I'm not your favorite son, you say/I hope you come out on election day."

As we sit gripped by yet another insane political cycle, it's easy to forget that there were always questionable political candidates. Especially in Illinois, which is renowned for its corrupt politicians, so maybe the Urge guys were reflecting on local candidates.

"I am the candidate, but you don't need me/Looking down like a satellite, oh how I wish I could see/I am the candidate/But I'm not favorite son, you say/I hope you come out on election day/I've got all these people that I call friends/Can't believe what I've done/I'm just a criminal lost on my own/I've got to run, got to run, got to run, got to run/I'm running."

The Supersonic Storybook is an excellent album, featuring other great songs like "The Kids Are Insane," "Today is Blackie's Birthday" and "Bionic Revolution." The band opened for Nirvana on the Nevermind tour and then recorded the EP Stull in 1992, which featured the Neil Diamond cover "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" and "Goodbye to Guyville" (which inspired the title of Liz Phair's great debut). 

This was enough to get the band to leave their label Touch and Go for Geffen, which released Urge's 1993 album Saturation. The album's first single, "Sister Havana," was a catchy riff-rocker that got immediate airplay on radio and MTV. The band opened for Pearl Jam on the Vs. tour and the album ended up hitting #146 on the Billboard 200. My brother and I saw them play at the Paradise in Boston and they were amazing.

There was some backlash from the Chicago punk scene after UO went to a major. Albini especially would rip into them with vigor, but I don't think the band cared about being called sellouts.

Before their follow-up release, the band contributed "Take a Walk" to the AIDS benefit album No Alternative and then Quentin Tarantino used Urge's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" in his breakthrough movie Pulp Fiction; the song ended up going to #59 on the Billboard Hot 100.

UO was poised to take advantage of this success, but by the time Exit the Dragon came out in September 1995, it seemed like the public forgot about them. I picked it up when it came out and I liked it, but it was definitely a little darker than Saturation so there was no immediate single like "Sister Havana." It just sort of came and went, and Kato and Roeser began fighting, leading to Roeser exiting the group. Kato and Onassis stayed, and UO moved to Sony's 550 Music in 1997. It wasn't until 2000 that Kato released a solo album called Debutante, on which about half the songs were written with Onassis. 

Kato and Roeser reformed UO in 2004 without Onassis, who had been struggling with a heroin addiction. They played some shows but didn't release a new album until 2011's Rock & Roll Submarine. In 2022, they released Oui. Last year, Onassis died at the age of 57.

UO definitely pissed off some punk purists, but I always enjoyed them. And those old albums hold up, especially The Supersonic Storybook.

Completely Conspicuous 640: Rocking While the World's on Fire

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2024 so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• JB's #6 and JK's #7: Philly's Mannequin Pussy is a wide-ranging delight
• JK's 6: Excellent jangle rock from Toronto's Ducks Ltd.
• JB's #5 and JK's #3: J Mascis with a laid-back winner of a solo album
• Let us know if you want to be in the studio audience for the year-end wrapup
• JK's #5: A more electronic effort from St. Vincent
• The limited amount of media attention given to albums now
• How do current artists measure success? 
• Remembering weird synth pop from the early '80s
• Fewer barriers to entry, but fewer ways to get your music in front of people
• JB's #4: Another great Slumberland release from Lunchbox, featuring folks from Hard Left
• JK's #4: First release in 14 years from NYC art rockers Les Savy Fav
• JB's #3: NH-based act combines post punk with many different genres
• JB's #2: Johnny Foreigner returns with EP previewing their upcoming album
• JK's #2: METZ adds catchiness to their noise rock 
• JB's #1: Political swipe at gentrification from Neutrals
• Anticipated albums: Fontaines D.C., Sunset Rubdown, Johnny Foreigner, Chime School, Peel Dream Magazine, Jesus Lizard, Horse Jumper of Love, Los Campesinos, Osees
• JK's #1: Hot collection of power pop rippers from Daniel Romano's Outfit

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 #201: You, in Weird Cities

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4). 

You, In Weird Cities (2015)

I've written about plenty of old-school rock classics for this feature, but what about newer stuff? Rock music didn't just end in 1995. And yet you constantly hear people say there's no good new rock music anymore. It's definitely a common refrain among my Gen X peers, who are in their mid-40s to late-50s now, and probably older Millennials as well. To which I say: Bullshit. 

I understand why people say that, however. If you're in your 40s, you can remember a time when you would hear new music on the radio or see a new video on MTV. Rock fans don't have those outlets anymore...unless they listen to college radio or online radio stations (free plug for my radio show here). There's more good music than ever out there, but you have to work a little to find it. 

Nostalgia is powerful and a lot of the bands that people grew up on in the '70s, '80s and '90s are still touring, so it's just easier to listen to your old favorites and see them when they come through town. Just last night, I probably knew 30 to 40 people who were either at the Foo Fighters show at Fenway Park or the Phish show in Mansfield. And it's cool, I certainly have seen plenty of bands who have been around for decades and will continue to do so. But I also like to see newer bands in smaller venues. 

The artist I'm writing about today is probably considered a newer artist by most, even though he's been playing music since 1995, when he was 13. Jeff Rosenstock grew up in Long Island and started a ska punk band called the Arrogant Sons of Bitches in '95. In 2004, he started Bomb the Music Industry, a punk collective that started out as a solo project in which Rosenstock wrote and played all the music and then gradually grew into a full band. In 2006, he created the first online donation-based record label, Quote Unquote Records, allowing fans to pay however much they wanted (or nothing at all) for the music. Starting with their 2007 album Get Warmer, the band partnered with Asian Man Records for physical releases, while still releasing digital albums for free. After releasing seven albums and several more EPs and split singles, the band played its final show in 2014.

Rosenstock released his first solo mixtape, I Look Like Shit, in 2012, but his first solo album came out in 2015, called We Cool? I was unaware of anything he had done from '95 to 2014, but I heard the song "Hey Allison" on a sampler from SideOneDummy Records and was hooked. It was catchy pop-punk and a lot of fun, so I picked up the album and really dug it. It's chock full of smart, punchy, rocking songs like "You, in Weird Cities," featuring big riffs and uber-catchy sing-along choruses.

The song is about missing your friends when they move away to start families, but since they're musicians, he can still listen to their music. Written when he was in his early 30s (he's 41 now), the song (and much of his recent music) looks at making that transition from your carefree 20s to your somewhat-more-responsible 30s.

"Instead of getting high/When no one is around/'Cause nothing makes me feel/Anything's worthwhile/Nothing makes me happy/I'm like a shitty child/Nothing makes me laugh/Nothing makes me smile/But when I listen to your records/I don't need to look at pictures/It's like I'm hanging out/With you in weird cities/Getting lost and pretending/That we'll never go back/We'll never go back/You're laughing with me/Getting lost in weird cities/Like we'll never go back/We'll never go back."

Rosenstock also got married in 2015, so he was making that leap into mature adulthood even as he was singing about missing his drinking buddies. 

"Listen to your tunes/It's like I'm there with you/When I listen to your tunes/It's like I'm there with you/I wanna hang out with you."

I can remember in the distant past when I started hanging out with my friends less after I got married and we started having kids. It definitely takes work to stay in touch with people and get together from time to time. It's a little easier to connect with people who live far away thanks to the internet, but everybody gets caught up in their day-to-day business because that's right in front of them. Not to mention when you've got little kids, you're exhausted all the time. 

Since We Cool? came out, Rosenstock has steadily released five more excellent albums and toured regularly (except for that pesky pandemic time frame). I saw him live for the first time in November 2016, right after the election. It was a noticeably young crowd, way younger than me and even Rosenstock himself. I saw him again last year when he came through Boston touring his latest album Hellmode and again it was a crowd of primarily college age and younger kids. Rosenstock and his band put on energetic, hard rocking shows; highly recommended if you haven't been.

You'll never hear Jeff Rosenstock on commercial radio, but who cares? Commercial radio sucks. Go on YouTube or even just Google him. It's never too late to find good new music.

Day After Day #200: Kid Charlemagne

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4). 

Kid Charlemagne (1976)

Steely Dan is a band that provokes extreme reactions. Some people, like the late great Steve Albini, couldn't stand them. Others love them. I was always in the latter category, although I never saw them play live. Formed in 1971 by Walter Becker (guitars, bass) and Donald Fagen (lead vocals, keyboards), the band played live for a few years before becoming a studio band, utilizing a changing assemblage of session musicians.

Becker and Fagen met in 1967 while students at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. One of their early bands included Chevy Chase on drums. After college, Becker and Fagen moved to Brooklyn and tried to sell their songs in the Brill Building in Manhattan. They got some work on the soundtrack of an obscure Richard Pryor movie (You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat) and writing and playing on an album by Linda Hoover. They also played for 18 months in the touring band of Jay and the Americans.

Finally, they decided to start a band of their own with guitarists Denny Diaz and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder and singer David Palmer, who was hired as a second lead vocalist because Fagen suffered from stage fright and because their label, ABC Records, didn't think his voice was commercial enough. Their 1972 debut album Can't Buy a Thrill had three hit singles: "Do It Again," "Reelin' in the Years" and "Do It Again." Palmer sang lead on the band's tour, but Becker and producer Gary Katz convinced Fagen to take over while Palmer left. 

The band continued to have success with their subsequent albums, Countdown to Ecstasy, Pretzel Logic and Katy Lied, with the latter album featuring a large collection of session players, including guitarist Larry Carlton. On Steely Dan's 1976 album The Royal Scam, Carlton was featured prominently, especially on the single "Kid Charlemagne." The song features funk and jazz elements while focusing on the story of a drug dealer in the psychedelic 1960s on the West Coast. Becker and Fagen have said the song was loosely inspired by San Francisco-based LSD chemist Owsley Stanley.

"While the music played you worked by candlelight/Those San Francisco nights/You were the best in town/Just by chance you crossed the diamond with the pearl/You turned it on the world/That's when you turned the world around."

The song's lyrics are typically intricate and interesting.

"On the hill the stuff was laced with kerosene/But yours was kitchen clean/Everyone stopped to stare at your technicolor motor home/Every A-frame had your number on the wall/You must have had it all/You'd go to LA on a dare/And you'd go it alone. Could you live forever?/Could you see the day?/Could you feel your whole life drift apart and fade away/Get along/Get along, Kid Charlemagne/Get along, Kid Charlemagne."

Stanley was busted in 1967 when his car reportedly ran out of gas. "Clean this mess or we'll all end up in jail/Those test tubes and the scale/Just get it all out of here/Is there gas in the car?/Yes, there's gas in the car/I think the people down the hall/Know who you are."

The generally jazzy arrangement features a ripping guitar solo by Carlton from 2:18 into the song until 3:08, and another as the song fades out. "Kid Charlemagne" hit #82 on the Billboard Hot 100, while The Royal Scam got to #15 on the Billboard 200 and was their fourth platinum album in the U.S.

Steely Dan released two more albums before splitting up in 1981 and sporadically working on projects throughout the '80s. Becker and Fagen reunited in 1993 when Becker produced Fagen's second solo album Kamakiriad; Becker then played in Fagen's band on the subsequent tour. They toured as Steely Dan in 1994 and 1996, and then released Two Against Nature in 2000. The album won four Grammy Awards. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and then released Everything Must Go in 2003. The band toured periodically over the years until Becker's death in 2017. Fagen has continued on as Steely Dan, continuing to tour into this year.