"There's a time in life for Hoagy Carmichael. There's a time in life for Claude Debussy. There's a time in life for Jerry Lee Lewis. There's a time in life for Destiny's Child. All these things have their moment." ~Elvis Costello
The aptly-named Struts came out of the gate in 2014 with the cocksure swagger of a band who seemed to know world domination was just around the next Slade-evoking hook.
Two consistently enjoyable albums later the band has proven that while not everybody wants the Struts, their anthemic, glammy throwback rock has a place in the charts and hearts of 21st century rock fans.
“Mary Go Round”, from their debut, makes effective use of key modulation to raise the emotional ante in this affecting breakup tune.
B.J. Thomas: “Whatever Happened to Old Fashioned Love” (1983)
By 1983, having bounced around from label to label and ventured into contemporary Christian music for a bit, B.J Thomas was six years removed from his last top 40 pop hit.
British New Wave dominated the pop charts and shoved many a 70’s pop star to the fringes, to oldies act status, or to the country charts. For Billy Joe Thomas, the country scene made a comfy fit. “Whatever Happened to Old Fashioned Love”, his final pop chart entry at #93, was a number one country hit.
Had it been the immediate follow-up to pop #1 hit (and longest-titled song ever to top the pop charts) “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” in 1975 it may have found a wider pop audience.
Even if you were familiar with classics like “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head”, “Hooked On a Feeling”, “I Just Can’t Help Believing” and “Rock and Roll Lullaby” this is a song you may have missed.
ONR (feat, Sarah Barthel of Phantogram): “Must Stop (Falling in Love)” (2020)
ONR (pronounced like “honor”) is Scottish Singer Robert David Shields.
This radio friendly edit of his 2020 single replaces only one word from the explicit version, although that one different word significantly modifies the song’s meaning.
Either version is valid, though, and I actually prefer the one without the shock value of the more “adult” version.
Sounding more diverse and more polished than on their previous outing, the Elvis Costello-produced Rum, Sodomy & the Lash, seminal Irish punk rockers the Pogues produced their finest album with1988’s If I Should Fall From Grace With God.
As Shane MacGowan’s wonderfully descriptive Anglo-Irish songwriting developed, he incorporated more elements into the mix. Middle Eastern and faux-Spanish flavors found their way into the stew, and the album contained one of the UK’s most beloved holiday tunes, the equally gritty and sublime Kirsty MacColl duet “Fairytale of New York”.
As for the origins of “Fiesta”, we quote the website Songfacts:
This song is based on a traditional Spanish fair ground melody. The Pogues guitarist Phillip Chevron on the Shane Macgowan website describes the genesis of this song: “Fiesta actually came out from our time in Spain. This song is about the time we were in Almeria filming Straight To Hell. We had peculiar hours. We would get up at 6 in the morning and drive to the set, which was about 25 miles from the hotel. This meant that we had to get to bed relatively early, which was difficult enough for The Pogues. The actual hotel in the film is the one we stayed in. Typically we would get back at 8 O’clock, have a bite to eat and a few drinks to unwind and then go to bed. We were filming at Fiesta time, and the Spanish take their Fiestas very seriously. The problem with the Fiesta is that they start at sun down and continue to sun up. That wouldn’t be too bad except the noise of the fiesta is something else. All through the time we were in Almeria there was two tunes that kept playing, they came like Chinese water torture. It would stop for five minutes and then start again. The first tune was what we made the main tune in ‘Fiesta’ and the other one was the coming from the doll-selling stall. You know the line ‘will you kindly kill a doll for me!'”
The song (and video) are, true the title, a veritable party. Whistles and gunshots puntuate the proceedings in Spike Jones fashion. The horn refrain nicks the “Liechtensteiner Polka”. The lyrics manage to humorously send up the band’s former bassist Cait O’Riordan leaving the band and marrying Elvis Costello. And in the always-raucous live performances, whistle player Spider Stacy provides added percussion by banging a beer tray against his head.
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians: “Horse’s Mouth” (2021)
A simple, crisply-put message on the topic of gossip.
Well, it’s been going on long as I can remember Somebody talking ’bout ol’ so and so and Next thing you know, it gets repeated like it’s gospel When it got started by someone who does not know
If you don’t hear it from the horse’s mouth You’re hearing it from a horse’s ass Alright
If you don’t hear it from the horse’s mouth You’re hearing it from a horse’s ass
It’s a temptation when I hear a story like that I have to meditate to keep my mouth shut And it’s like wrestling a bear to keep it quiet I want to run and jump and tell somebody but
If you don’t hear it from the horse’s mouth You’re hearing it from a horse’s ass Alright
There’s a dog on the bed Getting caught in the act Spider weaving a web For a snake in the grass
If you don’t hear it from the horse’s mouth You’re hearing it from a horse’s ass Alright
If you don’t hear it from the horse’s mouth You’re hearing it from a horse’s ass If you don’t hear it from the horse’s mouth You’re hearing it from a horse’s ass You’re hearing it From a horse’s ass
