gts008 “betterish”
A handful of years ago, as these were taking shape, noticed that some of them could tell a meta-story if played in a row. Here is the conclusion to a 3-episode arc: “madnesh” -> “she kills” -> “betterish”. More loosley, “loveish” and “breakupsh” preceded this arc on purpose. But from here on out, the 25 other eps in various states of construction are fairly random topics.
Started this out aiming for 1:58 minutes, then an ep at 1:59 got cut off at the end, went back to 1:58. But last week the show started 3 minutes late and I had the last minute+ cut. So we live and we learn, and now think my target will be 1:55 to 1:56, and tack on a “bonus track” at the end, and who cares if it gets cut, devil take the hindmost.
01-01 Doris Day & Les Brown Orchestra – Columbia 36779 – My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time (1945)
— sex appeal before MTV!
01-02 Gyroscope – Cohesion 03 – Baby I’m Getting Better (2010)
— originally discarded by the band because “we were trying to write a rock record.” You say “Huh?” This hit Top-40 in their home Australia, but started out as an acoustic country composition.
01-03 Kari Kimmel – Go 08 – Brand New Day (2011)
— first of two tunes this week off the fantastic soundtrack to the movie Radio Rebel, a made-for-TV effort of Disney starring Debby Ryan. Not a blockbuster cinematic achievement, but the soundtrack is top notch. Due to a misprint, for years I thought her name was Karl until I finally found the CD, previously owned by a library in Missouri.
01-04 Chicago – Chicago VI 10 – Feelin’ Stronger Every Day (1973)
— made it to their multi-platinum best-of album, for damn good reason.
02-01 Old 97s – The Grand Theatre Vol1 02 – Every Night Is Friday Night (Without You) (2010)
— a little cruel, but the lyrics always make me laugh.
02-02 Byrds – Mr Tambourine Man 02 – I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better (1965)
— the album was the invention of the genre “folk rock” and yes that’s David Crosby on backup.
02-03 Immortal Technique & Big Zoo – Revolutionary Vol1 03 – Positive Balance (2001)
— probably Tech’s most accessible song, he is known for highly original beats behind the lyrics, this one mesmerizes with those chimes.
02-04 Queen – At The BBC 03 – Doin’ Alright (1973)
— the Beeb is a storehouse of culture, frightening to think how impoverished we would all be if not for the BBC pulling new artists into a world-class studio for recording sessions. Funny they never invited the Sex Pistols, wot?
03-01 Regina Spektor – Begin To Hope 01 – Fidelity (2006)
— the obvious choice would have been her stronger hit off the same album: “Better”. But that’s too obvious. This one has a “bettuh bettuh bettuh” section, and “one foot on the ground” lets me launch into the rest of the set, which I still consider to be my best work so far. Taken in order, these six tell a whole bouncey narrative.
03-02 Maylee Todd & Central Park – Radio Rebel OST 12 – Touch The Ground (2012)
— the other Radio Rebel tune today, this one was only released on the soundtrack, nowhere else.
03-03 Ingrid Michaelson – Parachute (2010)
— a superb single full of Ingrid’s absorbing vocal styles, as far as I know, this one is not available on CD or vinyl, or any physical media. Still can’t shake the feeling that I caught this in a movie somewhere.
03-04 Go-Gos – Talk Show 01 – Head Over Heels (1984)
— took a long time, but about 5 years ago finally decided that this is their best song.
03-05 April Smith & The Great Picture Show – SFASS 10 – Wow And Flutter (2010)
— mischief personified, Miss Smith belts out another lasher. Listen well, third week in a row with an April Smith tune here, but no more scheduled for a few weeks 🙁
03-06 Josie And The Pussycats – JATPC 03 – Spin Around (2001)
— every single song on the soundtrack is great, and this one fits perfect right here.
04-01 Collective Soul – Youth 01 – Better Now (2004)
— This one was another “too obvious” choice, like “Getting Better” by The Beatles. But the more I passed it over, the more it got stuck in my head.
04-02 Ivor Cutler – Peel Session Feb79 07 – The Obliging Fairy (1979)
— lucky lucky Ivor!
04-03 Teagan & Sara – Lego Movie OST 01 – Everything Is Awesome!!! (2014)
— dripping with vicious irony, this’ll still be in your head tomorrow. Stayed in mine for a week after watching the movie. The bonkers side vocals are by The Lonely Island.
04-04 Bing Crosby & Andrews Sisters – Decca 23379 – Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive (1945)
— probably the biggest of the Bing/Andrews hit machine.
… and later at the Green Room After Party …
05-01 Lighthouse – One Fine Morning 06 – One Fine Morning (1971)
— borrowed forward from a later show, but the song is so strong that I will have no problem repeating this one in a few months.
05-02 Neiked & Mae Muller & Polo G – Better Days (2021)
— a little bit of a downer, but nice complexity and upbeat synths.
05-03 Lou Levin & Leo Reisman Orchestra – Victor 22221 – Happy Days Are Here Again (1930)
— for decades afterwards, just humming one or two bars of this, everyone knew what you meant. Franklin Roosevelt rode this one to a first Presidential victory, first of his 4, nobody called him a “loser” who lost the popular vote twice.
05-04 Dashboard Confessional -The Wire Tapes Vol1 11 – Better (2007)
— ok I couldn’t resist. Here’s Regina Spektor’s “obvious” one, but a soft croony twangy cover.
05-05 Berthold City – When Words Are Not Enough 10 – A Better Way (2022)
— time for the punk perspective.
05-06 Nick Lowe – Party Of One 06 – Shting-Shtang (1990)
— throwback sound, to the mid 1960’s.
05-07 Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid 10 – One Day Like This (2008)
— holy cow!
06-01 Gene Autry – Vocalion 05080 – Back In The Saddle Again (1939)
— originally released on Decca 64701 by Ray Whitley in 1938, Gene Autry worked with Ray for this version, which became his theme song. Also issued on Columbia and Okeh labels, early Vocalion discs had the title as “Back To The Saddle”.
06-02 Ken Nordine – Word Jazz Vol2 09 – You’re Getting Better (1960)
— technically a “better” song but wish I’d known about it 2 weeks ago when everyone was going mad.
06-03 Warren Zevon – Sentimental Hygiene 06 – Detox Mansion (1987)
— also could well have nestled up alongside “They’re Coming To Take Me Away” but it is a hopeful tune after all.
06-04 Argent – In Deep 05 – Be Glad (1973)
— epic opus time! 1973 was the Golden Year for prog, and this one is at peak self-indulgence.
06-05 Robert Earl Keen – Walking Distance 03 – Feelin’ Good Again (1998)
— extra picky and twangy, all about the kind of betterness we’re expecting after the decade we’ve had so far.
06-06 Bing Crosby & Paul Whiteman Orchestra – Columbia 3023 – Great Day (1930)
— inspirational, and inspiring too. Coincidence that this came out one year after Black Friday, just like Happy Days Are Here Again? Nope, no coincidence.
06-07 Monty Python – Spamalot 16 – Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life (2005)
— from Broadway, which means fake English accents that falter occasionally, but this version is longer than the original, and more, uhhh, showy.
… and our bonus track:
07-01 Jeff Danna – Julia OST 17 – To Bigger And Better Things Ahead (2022)
— from the HBO show, believe I’ll try to make the bonus tracks instrumentals as much as possible, so if it gets cut short, we won’t be left hanging on a last verse.