gts004 “insomnish”
A wink’s as good as a nod.
01-01 Andrews Sisters – Well All Right (Tonight’s The Night) (1939)
— backed by Vic Schoen’s Orchestra, Decca release #2462. I just put some coffee on, but you should get to sleep.
01-02 Tim Armstrong & Skye Sweetnam – Into Action (2007)
— yes, Tim Armstrong of Rancid fame, and Skye Sweetnam of Disney Channel fame. An unlikely pairing make sweet noise, doing a ska dancehall anthem with surf guitar, it keeps getting unlikelier and unlikelier, but adds up excellent.
01-03 Tom Petty – TP&THB 01 – Rockin’ Around (With You) (1976)
— a true 01/01 great, years ago had an urge to collect tunes which were all the lead track of a band’s debut album. This would be one of them, a great example of “front foot forward” where a band always tries to lead with what they think (at the time) is their best song. Not every band has one of these, many don’t hit top sound until the sophmore outing.
01-04 Ruth Brown – This Little Girl’s Gone Rockin’ (1958)
— love that squeaktch Ruth Brown lets into her voice at high points.
01-05 Basslovers United – Ghetto Superstar (2010)
— a tune ripe for the pounding rave cover.
02-01 MC Jeffsky & Igor – Scotty Doesn’t Know (euro mix) (2004)
— a running gag in the excellent movie Euro Trip, sequel to the great comedy Road Trip, the rare case where the sequel might even be better.
02-02 ABBA – Abba The Album 202 – Hole In Your Sole (1977)
— on vinyl it’s side 2 track 2 = “202”. If i remembered how many songs are on side 1, would number this in the modern CD fashion, but don’t and not going to stop and go check now.
02-03 Man Man – Six Demon Bag 06 – Black Mission Goggles (2006)
— one of those albums without a single crappy tune, eventually will get them all played on this show. Has been compared (by me) to a metal band busting into an Arizona bordello in 1878, holding a Colt .45 to the player at the tinny piano, and forcing him to learn quick.
02-04 Regina Spektor – Soviet Kitsch 07+08 – Whisper + Your Honor (2004)
— first part is Regina’s niece commonly called “Whisper” because that’s what it functionally is, but the official title is “*****” [sic, not censored].
03-01 Fat Boy Slim – HBTGATS 05 – Ya Mama (Push The Tempo) (2000)
— a little longer than regular, here’s the vid version because it fits the design.
03-02 Jimmy Eat World – Invented 06 – Coffee And Cigarettes (2010)
— would be an unremarkable pop-rock tune, but there’s a guitar solo hidden in there, a short one and a simple one, but really hits the spot.
03-03 Thee Butchers Orchestra – Drag Me Twice 14 – Psycho Minute (2003)
— exactly as advertised.
03-04 Tom Mabe – Wakeup Call For Telemarketers – Hotel Call Insomnia (2003)
— he went to a convention of telemarketing professionals and checked in to the hotel so he could bypass the front desk switchboard and call their rooms directly… at 3 in the morning.
03-05 Fratellis – Costello Music 05 – Chelsea Dagger (2006)
— a barn-burner of English punk pub music, album’s not all Costello covers, but rather an exploration of “what would’ve happened” if Declan hadn’t gone soft.
04-01 Hamell On Trial – Hard Rain Vol Two 01 – It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) (2002)
— from a sequel disc of Dylan covers, one of Mr. Zimmerman’s several tunes which just keeps being relevant, decade after decade. Hamell plays all the instruments here.
04-02 Above Envy – Revolution 01 – My Revolution (2012)
— there’s a great movie called Rebel Radio, but this one shows up in a different movie: “Radio Rebel”. Little remembered, made for TV, but punched above its weight. The real star of the movie is the soundtrack, which was quite difficult to find. My copy was pre-owned by a library in Missouri. Not a bad track on the disc, good for you, Missouri!
04-03 Terrible Things – Revolution (2010)
— counterpoint to above?
04-04 Cocteau Twins – Four Calendar Cafe 10 – Pur (1993)
— one of my triple plays, have the album on cassette, CD and vinyl. Prefer their early stuff, but this is the best of latter-day Cocteau Twins.
… and later at the Green Room After Party …
05-01 Primus – Brown Album 09 – Bob’s Party Time Lounge (1997)
— sound effects at the start make it extra fit for purpose.
05-02 Pink – Missundaztood 04 – Get The Party Started (2001)
— when released, they had to replace “ass” with “ends” because Janet Jackson’s boob had recently popped out at a football game, and there was a clamp-down. But hopefully we’ve evolved somewhat in 25 years.
05-03 Lou & Peter Berryman – The Pink One 10 – Insomnia (2003)
— hilarious, the title’s right, and comes off an album named correctly for following recent tunes.
05-04 Puccini – Madama Pappano – Non Lo Sapete Insomnia (1904)
— the debut of Madame Butterfly was a disaster. Panned by critics, and history’s 2nd-most notorious “wardrobe malfunction” occurred when some rigging lifted the soprano’s kimono up, revealing her pregnant belly, prompting cat-calls from the audience: “There’s the little Toscanini!” referring to her scandalous (rumored) affair with superstar conductor Arturo Toscanini. Took Puccini 6 months to get it produced again (outside of Italy this time), and he had to re-write it twice over 3 years before it became the opera masterpiece we know today.
05-05 Bobby Lewis – Tossin’ And Turnin’ (1960)
— after folk, opera, and atmo, this jumps high.
05-06 Beastie Boys – Licensed To Ill 08 – No Sleep Till Brooklyn (1986)
— one of the albums which changed music forever. Also follows the previous tune nicely: Bobby Lewis ran away from his home in Michigan in 1939, but landed in Harlem, not Brooklyn.
05-07 Kylesa – Static Tensions 02 – Insomnia For Months (2009)
— Southern Metal pounding one out for the theme. You’re not hearing double, the band has two drummers. In fact, ala Spinal Tap, Kylesa went through 8 drummers in 9 years.
06-01 Joe Ely – Musta Notta Gotta Lotta 01 – Musta Notta Gotta Lotta (1981)
— the ghost of Jerry Lee Lewis haunts that pianoer’s fingers.
06-02 Faithless – Insomnia 211 – Not Enuff Love (2001)
— a much deeper band than their couple tunes which got airplay, this album is a good entry point. In this case, the band’s on-theme “greatest hits” compilation has this as track #11 on CD 2 = “211”, you’ll figure it out. Lyrically unstable for this week’s theme, but the comp’s title allows me to reach, and putting more Faithless out there is a stretch i’m always willing to make.
06-03 Mike Candys & Jack Holiday – Insomnia (Monday 2 Friday Remix) (2011)
— the original version from 2009 made this Swiss duo the darlings of the annual party in Ibiza. Played here solely to keep you awake, sucker.
06-04 David Hole – Outside Looking In 10 – Insomniac (2001)
— as solid as blues rock comes.
06-05 The Originals – Sleepless Hours (1958)
— phrasing is reminiscent of “Tequila” but if you’re left with a lingering sense of “I know that tune”, the saxophone solo is lifted from Gene Autry’s “Here Comes Santa Claus”.
06-06 Go Gos – Return To The Valley Of The Go-Go’s 109 – Let’s Have A Party (1981)
— recorded at Palos Verdes High School in December of 1981, presumably the Winter Formal Dance. The Go-Go’s, like most bands, started small. Heck, one of the Beatles first gigs was in a backyard playing a cousin’s graduation party.
06-07 Pink – Raise Your Glass (2010)
— a decade later, the answer to Alicia’s “Get The Party Started”.
06-08 Toy Dolls – Living La Vida Loca (2000)
— one of the best cover tunes ever, and worth staying up all this time. Now go to sleep.