Category Archives: Music

One Hit Wonders #6: ARE YOU A BOY OR ARE YOU A GIRL? by The Barbarians (Laurie Records 1966)

Posted on by gary loggins

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Garage rock bands sprouted up everywhere during the 60’s. Any teen who could master three chords on guitar or bang on a drum kit wanted to be a rock star, mainly because all the girls were ga-ga for teen idols. Cape Cod, MA was no different, and The Barbarians rose to #55 on the Billboard charts with their long haired anthem, “Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?”:

The difference between The Barbarians and all those other would-be Beatles was their drummer, Moulty, who had a hook in place of his left hand. Victor “Moulty” Moulton lost his hand in a homemade pipe bomb explosion at age 14, but that didn’t stop him from joining the rock revolution. He had his hook modified to fit a drum stick, then he and the band grew their hair out longer than the popular Beatle-bowl cut. Their unique looks helped land The Barbarians a gig in THE TAMI…

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Music Video of the Day: Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked by Cage The Elephant (2008, dir by D.A.R.Y.L.)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

ain’t no rest for the wicked/money don’t grow on trees

Hi everyone!  Lisa here, filling in for our resident music video expert, Valerie.

Now, there’s a variety different reasons why Val or I might pick a video for music video of the day.  Sometimes, the choice is made as a way to honor an artist who has recently passed away.  Sometimes, it’s done to commemorate a historical event.  And sometimes, especially in my case, it’s just because the song’s chorus has gotten stuck in my head.

For instance, take today’s music video of the day.  Sunday morning, I was driving to the store and I turned on the radio and, just by chance, this was the song that was playing.  Ever since, I’ve had Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked, Money Don’t Grow On Trees stuck in my head.

And really, the song has a point.  Money doesn’t grow on trees.

Anyway, this video was directed by D.A.R.Y.L., which is the creative moniker of directors James Hall and Edward Lovelace.

Enjoy!

oh, there ain’t no rest for the wicked

 

One Hit Wonders #5: DOA by Bloodrock (Capitol Records 1971)

Posted on by gary loggins

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Talk about shock rock! Proto-metal rockers Bloodrock reached #36 on the charts in 1971 with DOA, a morbid little ditty about a plane crash, told from the victim’s point of view:

Bloodrock began playing local Ft. Worth, Texas venues in 1965 as The Naturals, quickly changing their name to Crowd +1. A string of unsuccessful singles followed, until they were discovered by Detroit rock impresario Terry Knight, a former DJ who once fronted his own band, Terry Knight & The Pack:

Knight changed their name to Bloodrock, taking over management and producing duties for the band. He also at the time handled the immensely popular (yet critically reviled) hard rock group Grand Funk Railroad:

After an acrimonious split with the two groups, and failing at starting his own label (Brown Bag Records), Knight vanished from the music scene. He hung out with stars, raced autos, but mostly did tons of cocaine. After getting…

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Music Video Of The Day: Instant Crush by Daft Punk featuring Julian Casablancas (2013, dir by Warren Fu)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, everyone!  Lisa here with today’s music video of the day!

July 14th is Bastille Day in France so it only seems appropriate to share a video from my two favorite French musical artistes, Daft Punk.  That’s right — the robots are French!

Instant Crush was the fourth single to be released off of Daft Punk’s Grammy-winning fourth album, Random Access Memories.  It’s a collaboration between the robots and Julian Casablancas.  The video was directed by veteran music video director Warren Fu and it brings tears to my eyes every time.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Pretty Life by Jakalope (2004, dir by Lisa Mann and Vincent Marcone)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The latest season of Degrassi dropped on Netflix today.  Val’s already watched it and I’ll probably watch it this weekend.

In honor of this occasion, today’s music video of the day comes from the Canadian band, Jakalope.  Not only was Jakalope’s best-known song, Feel It, prominently featured in the classic Ghost in the Machine episode of Degrassi but Jakalope also performed Degrassi’s opening theme song from season 4 to season 7.  Part of my ritual, before watching any season of Degrassi, is to spend an hour listening to Jakalope.  It gets me just in the right mood.  My Canadian friends understand.

Pretty Life comes from Jakalope’s debut album, It Dreams.  (It Dreams was co-produced by Trent Reznor and his unmistakable influence in present in both the songs and the videos.)  After watching Pretty Life, be sure to check out the videos for Feel It and Go Away.

As an extra bonus, here is Jakalope performing the Degrassi theme song during season 4:

And here is the instrumental version that was used during seasons 6 and 7.  These opening credits are taken from season 7.  (If the opening credits seem a bit crowded that’s because, during season 7, apparently every teenager in Canada had a role on Degrassi.)

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: I Can’t Drive 55 by Sammy Hagar (1984, dir by Gil Bettman)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy 4th of July!

When I was searching for the perfect music video for Independence Day, I did a google search for “Best Libertarian songs.”  After all, as anyone who knows me can tell you, the only thing more firm than my love of cinema is my resentment of authority.

Anyway, as you can probably guess, my search led to me sitting through a lot of dreary progressive rock songs, the type that featured 20 minute drum solos and lyrics lifted from Ayn Rand.  However, it also led me to a song called I Can’t Drive 55.  

Though this song is just a little before my time, it still feels like it was specifically recorded just for me.  I have always considered traffic laws, not just the laws themselves but the way they are enforced, to be the epitome of everything that can go wrong when people blindly respect authority.

Last year, I was mailed a ticket for running a red light.  I’ll be the first to admit that I ran the red light but the time to ticket me was when I did it.  Furthermore,  if I’m going to be ticketed, I demand to be ticketed by a human being and not some machine that is impervious to being manipulated by tears.  Sending me a ticket a month later and expecting me to pay it just because some camera recorded me bending the law is the first step to dictatorship.  The second step is people passively paying the fine because “that’s the law.”  Laws, after all, are man made and obeying them without question is giving mankind more respect than it’s earned through it actions.

As for the video, it also feels like it was specifically filmed for me.  It’s actually a fun little video with a sense of humor and who hasn’t wanted to tell a traffic judge what he can do with his gavel?

Anyway, enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Hangar 18 by Megadeth (1990, dir by Paul Boyington)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

If y’all already didn’t already known in which direction my musical tastes tends to run, you probably could guess just by doing a search and seeing who, out of the 18 writers on the site, has spent the most time writing about The Chemical Brothers and the Electric Daisy Carnival.  In other words, I’m not going to pretend that I know much about Megadeth.

But I do know that it’s World UFO Day and this video certainly seems to fit with the theme!

Enjoy and keep watching the skies!

One Hit Wonders #4: NA NA HEY HEY KISS HIM GOODBYE by Steam (Fontana Records 1969)

Posted on by gary loggins

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Singer Gary DeCarlo died this past week at age 75. Who the heck is Gary DeCarlo, you may well ask? The name may not be familiar, but the song he sang that had a two-week run at #1 in 1969 sure is:

The song was written by DeCarlo and his friends Paul Leka and Dale Frasheur in the early 60’s when they were in a Bridgeport, CT doo-wop group. Later that decade, when DeCarlo was looking for a B-side for a single he recorded, he dug up this old tune and it was put together in the studio. The band Steam in that video wasn’t really a band at all, just some dudes lip-synching DeCarlo’s hit!

“Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” was resurrected in 1977 when the Chicago White Sox organist at Comiskey Park began playing it whenever the Sox’s opposing pitcher got knocked out of the ballgame. Soon other sports…

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Music Video of the Day: The Golden Path by The Chemical Brothers, featuring The Flaming Lips (2003, dir by Chris Milk)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

https://vimeo.com/143082350

The Golden Path is one of my favorite songs of all time.

I’ve been listening to it a lot this weekend, while thinking about friends and loved ones who left this world far too early.  On a normal day, the combination of Wayne Coyne’s sincere delivery of “How and why did I die?” and the song’s closing chorus of “Please forgive me, I never meant to hurt you!” makes me emotional.  This weekend, it’s literally brought tears to my eyes.

(Interestingly enough, in an interview with the Guardian, Coyne said the following about recording the vocals for The Golden Path:  “We recorded our part very quickly, almost flippantly, like we’d get a second chance. Then Tom and Ed left a message within 20 minutes of receiving the tape. You could hear them jumping up and down in the background, shouting ‘We’re ecstatic.'”)

As for the video, it’s actually pretty simple.  An office drone fantasizes of a colorful world beyond his gray existence.  The dreamer is played by Fran Kranz, who you might recognize as the stoner from The Cabin In The Woods.  This video was the first to be directed by Chris Milk.

Enjoy!

(Val should be back tomorrow!)