Welcome to a World Premiere - the first ever school holidays installment of "Song of the Week". When I started on this musical journey (to paraphrase Larry Mullen Jr!) I only wrote these in the school terms. Now that the Woozle has gone "World Wide" however, it seems only fair to my dedicated audience to carry on the madness.
First up - huge congratulations to WORLD CYCLING CHAMPION Cadel Evans. So many people cut him down after Le Tour, well, time to eat their words.
School holidays are great - if in fact you can get any time away. This week has been rather average in that respect. But, I have managed to check out a few new tunes.
Landspeed Records in Canberra provided me with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's "Deja Vu - Live". Worth a listen if you like Neil Young. Basically it is his "Living With War" album plus a couple of others live. Neil doesn't hold back on his political views and his bandmates obviously share his ideas. I reckon that if you listen to this and are shocked by the fact that he doesn't much like George W then you should probably ask yourself why you listened in the first place. If you were to listen with an open mind I am sure that he has something of value to say in there even if you didn't agree with the whole lot. Here's the trailer for the DVD version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOryv6gJfoA (CSNY Deja Vu Live - trailer)
I also picked up Lou Reed's "Berlin" which is also live. The price was right and the few words on the CD sleeve were enough to interest me. I'm listening to it now and will report back.
There were rumours this week that David Bowie would be headlining the "Big Day Out" festival here in Australia. Seems that they are not true. This is a shame - but apparently he wanted a LOT of money just to play a 45 minute greatest hits set. Surely we could've counter offered with some money and a guest spot judging Australian Idol!! If Bowie was to play then this song would be my first choice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw49pY0MGrY (David Bowie - Suffragette City)
There are some U2 remasters floating around now. One has to wonder if there is any good new music out there some days. What disappointed me was finding out that some of the ad lib bits in their "Live Under A Blood Red Sky" have been edited out of the remaster. Personally I'll be heading to the second hand CD place to pick up an old copy. Now this isn't from that concert but it is always a treat in my opinion to watch U2 at their best - young and hungry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIm2IFYptME (U2 - Gloria - live)
I'm choosing to refrain from a debate about religion on this blog. But, one of my favourite metal bands of all time are US rockers Stryper. Their lyrical content isn't a big deal to me. I am happy for them to sing about God just as much as I am OK with Slayer going on about dismembered bodies or Billy Bragg about socialism. Stryper just hit a chord with me as a young man. They could write a good hook and they could sing too. They have a new album out called "Murder By Pride" and this song (which is a cover of a Boston tune) is worth a listen. Bonus points if you can identify the person who introduces it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdPH3Cl-a2U (Stryper - Peace of Mind live)
And now, onto the song of the week. For a while now I have been interested in what actually happened to the Beach Boys. It is a twisted tale and as you probably know, not all of them have made it through unscarred. While listening to some Beach Boys stuff I stumbled across a reference to an album made by Dennis Wilson. Probably common knowledge to many but it was news to me. "Pacific Ocean Blue" didn't last long in print until it was reissued recently. At the moment I've only had the album in my possession for a day or so but I think this song is worthy of your attention:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4yFWBbG_ZA (Dennis Wilson - River Song)
Just one look at Dennis' face on the album cover made me feel like this album would have something to say. That doesn't happen often. Reminded me a lot of Kris Kristofferson. The Beach Boys influence is obvious but this is a more organic, maybe rougher sound - I like it.
DJ Rob
River Song (Dennis Wilson)
Walkin' down by the river
Water running through my knees
(Ahhh)
River, oh river moves so free
(Ahhh)
Oh mighty river endlessly
Oo mighty river
I would love to be like you
Oo lonely river
Has not got the time to say
I was born into the city life
It's all that I've ever known
You know it's rough gettin' round this place
So crowded I can hardly breathe
You can only see about a block or two
In L. A. that's the truth
I'm lookin' for some country life
Some kickin' room no more city life
I want the river
Rollin' rollin' rollin' on river
(I got to get away I got to get away I got to get away)
Rollin' rollin' rollin' on river
(I got to get away I got to get away I got to get away)
Rollin' rollin' rollin' on river
(I got to get away I got to get away I got to get away)
Rollin' rollin' rollin' on river
(I got to get away I got to get away I got to get away)
Rollin' rollin' rollin' on
It breaks my heart to see the city
I wonder why it ain't pretty
Oh I want to cry, want to cry
Come on you've got to do it do it do it
You got to run away you got to run away
You got to do it do it do it
You got to run away
You got to run away
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