Song of the Week #270

Hello out there all you radio fans! Radio Woozle is coming to you again from the nation’s capital via bike paths, roads, the shower and all locations in between. If thinking about music was a sport then I’d easily have my 10,000 hours in to be considered elite.

RIP Lou Reed. Another legend gone. I'll freely admit that I'm not a massive fan but his "New York" album is one that I listen to a lot. You have to hand it to Lou; he never really cared what others thought about his music and he kept churning out albums. I'm still not sold on his work with Metallica but then he made music for himself!

Lou Reed -  Dirty Boulevard (live) - http://youtu.be/31n-8ffVFVg

As I mentioned last week, DJ H sent me a list of 12 albums rather than 12 songs. Obviously he’s got more room in his life raft than most people but I’m sure I can play along! The sad fact is that when I had to rebuild the World Wide Woozle laptop most of my personal email files were lost and H's list was amongst those. I've been in contact with him via the rock 'n' roll grapevine and I'm sure he'll be a lot better organised than me and will resend the list.

This week my good mate DJ BluesManDubya sent me his list. To tell the full story, he did send me a list earlier but I asked him to be more ruthless and cut it down a bit. The BluesMan and I go back to 2005 when we were both new to a teaching at a school. On the first day we connected as a result of guitar playing and never looked back. I have him to thank for reminding me that Cold Chisel was a good band and should not simply be the property of beer swilling, flag wrapped bogans. He also turned me on to a whole lot of cool blues that I hadn’t paid much attention to. It was a bit like having a decent tourist roadmap where you can avoid the rubbish and the toursist hotspots to ensure you see the really cool stuff. A couple of years ago now DJ Al-ee-Sun and I went to his wedding. It was great, his wife DJ JacEe is awesome and now they have a healthy bouncing boy to keep their hands full and to indoctrinate into the world of rock ‘n’ roll. DJ BluesManDubya chose songs by artists including Cold Chisel, Don Walker, The Offspring, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Norah Jones. Here’s couple off his list that I think you’ll enjoy. 

Del Shannon – Runaway (live) – http://youtu.be/5N2VCGOSULM

The Descendents – Silly Girl – http://youtu.be/n36hDSK-vhA

Don Walker - The Good Book - http://youtu.be/COJx2NELSnM

Don Walker is an interesting guy. Watch that video, perhaps listen to a few more of his tunes and then remember that he's the guy that wrote "Khe Sanh". I've seen him live here in Canberra playing with Tex Perkins and Charlie Owens (DJ BluesManDubya took me) and he's great!

I had an interesting time with a company called Wahoo Fitness over the last couple of weeks. Wahoo make products that can link your iPhone into heart rate monitors, cycle computers, home trainers and the like; it’s good gear. What they had was a product on Kickstarter that used Bluetooth to link heart rate strap, cadence sensor and other stuff straight into your iPhone. To cut a long story short, I ordered the product and after it had been funded and released I read on another website that it would only work with new iPhones. So, I emailed them and asked what they could do. Wahoo were fabulous and offered me my money back or their entire suite of gear made for my iPhone. So I’ll report back when that package arrives. It’s so refreshing to get good customer service these days!

Back to the music and one of my favourite bands, The Cult. They're an English group who morphed from goth music to a more straight ahead rock band with some goth influences. The first album I had of theirs was "Electric" which came out in 1987. It's a stripped back affair that sounds not unlike a raw AC/DC album. What I didn't know at the time was that they had made the album with one producer and not liked it. At this point they brought in Rick Rubin (you know him from production stints with Beastie Boys, Slayer and Johnny Cash). Rick threw out all their reverb processors, guitar effects and wind tunnels and made them record the album as a rock band. The results were great and it was a huge success that really made the band a big name. Fast forward to this week and I found out about the unreleased version of "Electric" which is called "Peace". The band have finally made it available and I had a listen this morning. Wow! The sound is massive and the songs still stand up. I'll be tracking down a copy on vinyl to add to my collection. For your listening pleasure here is the original and unreleased version of Love Removal Machine followed up with the version I've loved for years. Different but both pretty cool! You can hear the riffs and flourishes that they saved up from the original version in later albums like Sonic Temple.

The Cult - Love Removal Machine (Peace version) - http://youtu.be/Grt_EkrZEeE

The Cult - Love Removal Machine (Electric version) - http://youtu.be/k6PgftKbQnQ

In TV watching news we’ve started at the beginning with the X-Files. As soon as I can stop falling asleep at 8.45pm we might get to watch a few. The stories still stand up, the acting is good and the fashions are amusing. It does seem a little slow paced though compared to current shows. Episode 1 which is the pilot doesn't have the iconic theme music. It's amazing how many memories a TV show and its music can bring back. Listen to this and see if you're transported back in time...

The X Files Theme - http://youtu.be/j2d6T5G2rrY

The next tune follows on from the Blues Brothers number that I played last week. I'll admit that I've had "Made In America" playing very regularly all week. I know that the songs are all cover versions but the Blues Brothers band is just on fire! This is track 2 on the album but I'll play the original version rather than Jake and Elwood. If the song was any funkier...well I just don't know how to describe what might happen. Listen carefully to the bass line and the cool guitar work.

Johnny Taylor - Who's Making Love? - http://youtu.be/0Tucm5FsPVA

Johnny Taylor put that tune out in 1968. In 1984 we saw this next song in the movie "Purple Rain" (one that everyone should watch at least once). The musical link and influence is clear to me.

The Time - Jungle Love - http://youtu.be/OZCiLAqMQZY

My sister in EnZed alerted me to the fact that Eminem and Rihanna had released a single. To be totally honest I'd be unlikely to listen to either of them. But, I did listen to the song. It's not bad but I don't think it's anything special. You can make up your own mind. It's called The Monster. But here's a tune that DJ MadCatLover should enjoy...

The Fauves - Dogs Are The Best People - http://youtu.be/rQ-fvr2qLc0

Halloween has been and gone. Whether or not you think it's a good thing or not I have to admit I've seen some pretty cool costumes out there. Seems like mostly harmless fun to me so I think some people need to lighten up. The recent media beat up that we shouldn't celebrate Halloween because it is an American tradition is a joke. Shall we also ignore Mothers' Day and Christmas? I'm not sure either of those originated down under. If there's a Halloween version of The Grinch then they've been out in force lately - booooo!

I'll finish with some Halloween themed songs. The first is from a rather good B-grade teen/horror/rock movie from 1986. "Trick or Treat" was a lot of fun and had a cool soundtrack. If you liked the whole "coming of age teenage angst" genre but also enjoyed films like "The Toxic Avenger" then this movie might be for you.

Fastway - Trick or Treat - http://youtu.be/taV_qfVYnrg

Then of course there's this classic...

Bobby Pickett and The Cryptkickers - Monster Mash - http://youtu.be/0thH3qnHTbI

MJ is too obvious but it's a cool clip.

Michael Jackson - Thriller - http://youtu.be/sOnqjkJTMaA

But what would Halloween be without the Prince of Darkness himself...

Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon - http://youtu.be/44DqUFS2W3Q

And finally, my favourite ghoulish track...

Alice Cooper - Teenage Frankenstein - http://youtu.be/ET6Q68jI15k

DJ Rob