Not Guilty Just Pleasure - The Girl I Can't Forget

As it's Friday and the last day of January, I'm sharing something that makes me feel happy and warm inside. Ever since I first heard their debut album in the 1990's, I've been a fan of the Fountains of Wayne.

The summer I met Mark, we spent a lot of time driving back and forth between Kingston and Toronto. I'm pretty sure that the only two records I listened to in the car that summer were Wilco's "Summerteeth" and "Utopia Parkway" by Fountains of Wayne.

A silly aside,  when I met him, Mark was driving an old, blue Toyota Tercel. When he picked me up for our first date, I noticed that on the gas tank door, he had a Southern Culture on the Skids "Plastic Seat Sweat" sticker. At that point, I had a feeling that things were going somewhere good.

Anyway, in 2005, Fountains of Wayne released a wonderful compilation of b-sides, covers and rarities. The album was called "Out of State Plates" and it also featured two new songs. I'm sharing one of those songs today, "The Girl I Can't Forget." I remember the first time I heard it. I hit the repeat button and probably listened to it 10 times in a row. In my opinion, it is an absolutely perfect pop song.  If you haven't heard it before, you're in for a big treat.

Enjoy it kiddos and have a wonderful weekend xo

And now that I'm with her

The whole thing seems a bit absurd

Though she never fails to tell the tale

Of the time she had to post my bail

And for giving me a second chance

I'm forever in her debt

Since the night I can't remember

She's the girl

I will never forget

Cancon Thursday - Black and Blue

Hold on to your hair crimper folks, today's CanCon Thursday tune is a classic 80's tune from a Canadian band.

Originally from Charlottetown, Haywire were moderately popular in Canada during the 1980's. I worked with a gal while I was in school who was so in love with them.  She was absolutely obsessed with today's song and watched the video over and over and over again. I was quite surprised that I remembered the lyrics, guess she really burned it into our brains. Admittedly, it's a catchy song and it's about 80's sounding as it gets (it also sounds pretty Glass Tiger-y...or do Glass Tiger sound like Haywire?). Either way, it's very 80's!

Today's song is "Black and Blue." It was released on their 1987 album, "Don't Just Stand There." Re-watching the video this week was so much fun. The fashion in the video is pretty bang on.  It's like a little time capsule actually. SO many mullets... SO many perms... SUCH big shoulder pads... All that stone washed denim. It really takes me back. I can only imagine how many cans of Aquanet were used in the making of this video.

So, take a look and a listen and enjoy it xo

Believe me, baby, when I tell you

That you make love that fine

Sit around and bitch

And still I'm going out of my mind, ow!

Way Back Wednesday - I Wanna Be Loved

Yesterday was all about "I wanna be adored" and today is all about "I wanna be loved"

Despite the fact that Elvis Costello once described his 1984 album, Goodbye Cruel World, as one of his worst, it has remained, for over 35 years now, one of my favourite albums by Elvis Costello and the Attractions.  If you're interested in the album, you should definitely listen to the episode of Malcolm Gladwell's "Revisionist History" Podcast where Elvis talks about it (click here to find it).

Although Elvis is probably one of the world's most talented song writers, the song I'm sharing today (from "Goodbye Cruel World") is a cover. "I Wanna Be Loved" (by Teacher's Edition) was originally released on Hi Records in 1973. If the backing vocals sound really familiar, they should because Green Gartside from Scritti Politti is the BV on this song. I really love this song, I love Elvis Costello and the Attractions and the video is very sweet. I had forgotten just how lovely it was until I re-watched it this week.

Give it a listen and let me know what you think. Happy hump day kittens xo

I guess I'm a victim of loneliness

But why should this be my destiny?

A foolish man for a lot of my life

Shouldn't there be someone

Someone for me?

Because it's Tuesday - week of January 28

One of the things that I love and kind of hate about you tube is the way you can get pulled into places you had no intention of going. It's not a bad thing but sometimes it's inconvenient.

Perhaps people who have greater attention spans than I do can get out quickly but that never seems to work for me. I go there looking for one thing, and it suggests that I watch something completely unrelated (but totally awesome) and there I go. Down the rabbit hole. I watch the thing it suggests... and then the next... and so on and maybe, eventually, I will remember why I went there in the first place but probably not.  All in all, not a horrible thing but if you're trying to stick to a schedule, it can really suck your time.

This happened to me yesterday. I went to you tube to watch something (no idea what, can't recall). Instead of finding whatever that was, I saw a link to the "official video" for the Stones Roses classic, "I wanna be adored." I cannot remember the last time I had heard that song, years and years, probably over a decade had passed. Of course, I clicked on it and was transported back in time instantly. I so enjoyed it that I thought, "okay, there is my way back Wednesday song for this week." In 2020, this song is still incredible. It has truly stood the test of time.

As the song finished playing, you tube told me about today's cover (the Raveonettes version of "I wanna be adored"). Well, I love the Raveonettes and had not heard their version so, I clicked.  Wow, it's just beautiful and fans of the original will find a lot to love about this one too.

Hope you enjoy it.

Not Guilty Just Pleasure - You Don't Wanna Hear It

Good news everyone (yes, as I typed that I heard Professor Farnsworth's voice in my head), Ron Sexsmith has a new record coming out in April. The album will be called Hermitage and the first single, "You Don't Wanna Hear It" was released last week.

First of all, I love Ron Sexsmith. His lyrics are always thoughtful and clever and he tweets the funnest puns around (seriously, if you're not following him on twitter, you really should!!). He'll be touring Canada later this year so if you're lucky enough to be close to where he's playing, check him out. His live shows are pretty great.

As I mentioned last week, so far, 2020 is turning out to be an excellent year for music. If things are this exciting in January, I can't imagine how I'll be feeling by July.

Happy Friday kiddoes, enjoy some wonderful new Ron music xo

say you've got a wounded heart

not dealing is the easy part

so you don't

you don't wanna listen now

CanCon Thursday - Come On Teacher

On Thursday, I share a Canadian song with you. Today's Canadian song is by Nova Scotia's Joel Plaskett (well technically it's by the Joel Plaskett Emergency - or "the Joe Plastic Energy Band" as I heard the man himself say one time).

As Canadian singer-songwriters go, I think that Joel is fantastic, probably one of the best around today. This song in particular is fun and a bit silly and the video really reminded me of high school. Well the part of it that were actually fun and not that bad stuff which I seem to have been successful at shoving down in the deep dark corners of my brain.

So, today, I'm keeping this quick because I can (my blog my rules). I've loved this song since I first heard it and I think that the video is super fun. I'm sure you'll like it too. Also, it's a great earworm so if it gets stuck in your head today, you're welcome!!

come on teacher
just admit it,
you think that i'll never get it!
i'm the badass of your classroom
well, now you've got a badass classroom.

Way Back Wednesday - More Than A Feeling

As I mentioned last Wednesday (when I shared Van Halen's "Panama" with you), a few weeks ago, we spent a good sized chunk of time in a dark, cold, parking lot waiting for a bus to arrive. One of the "boy that takes me back" songs we listened to was Boston's "More Than A Feeling."

The first time I remember seeing an actual Boston LP in person was at my cousin Kathy's house, sometime in the 1970's. It was in my Aunt & Uncle's rec room, which, if I recall correctly had awesome reddish orange shag carpet (because of course it did!). Kathy was into Boston, KISS, and the Bay City Rollers (she was two years older than me). I was big into KC and the Sunshine Band but that's a story for another post on another Way Back Wednesday.This song was their first single, from their self-titled debut and it was a huge huge hit in 1976.

It's one of those songs, whether you like to admit it or not, you know all of the words to and can't resist singing along to AND playing air guitar (or air drums) if it comes on the radio and you're in the car, alone. Right? We really enjoyed it and I'm not ashamed to admit it (after all, I dumped the whole guilty thing from my Friday posts).

So, here you go, for Way Back Wednesday, Boston's monster hit classic, "More Than A Feeling" (not to be confused with Kirk Van Houten's "Can I Borrow A Feeling").

So many people have come and gone
Their faces fade as the years go by
Yet I still recall as I wander on
As clear as the sun in the summer sky

Because It's Tuesday - week of January 21

Happy Tuesday day.

Have you dug out? Are you thawed out?

January huh? January in Ontario exists to help us remember to not complain too much about the humidity in Ontario in August.

Booze Cruisers, 1985

Speaking of August, or summertime rather, the first time I heard the cover I'm sharing with you today was on a "booze cruise" of the 1000 Islands. It was a summer evening, sometime in the mid-1980's and it was a private party for the staff of the grocery store I worked at while I was in high school.  Hearing the song was memorable for a couple of reasons, the first was because I instantly knew that I loved it (to me it was a million times better than the original) and the second was, moments after hearing it, one of the guys I worked with managed to turn the boat around, quickly, in the middle of the St. Lawrence River. We all stumbled about and the "captain" (who had been chatting up one of the cashiers) ran up the stairs to get us back on track. The whole thing was memorable.

The photo above is from that very same cruise. From left to right, Pete, the guy who turned the boat around, the "captain" who sorted us out, me and Beaver. Hard to believe that was almost 35 years ago now. Yikes.

Gah.

The song I'm sharing today is by Aztec Camera, it's their cover of Van Halen's "Jump." Originally released as a b-side to the single "all I need is everything" I think that Jump received more attention than the a-side did. Hope you enjoy this extremely low-key version of the Van Halen classic.

I get up, and nothin' gets me down
You got it tough, I've seen the toughest around
And I know, baby, just how you feel
You got to roll with the punches and get to what's real

Not Guilty Just Pleasure - Little Too Late

Happy Friday.

If you follow me on twitter (@julep67) you may have noticed that I was raving about the new song by Camino 84.  I have raved about Camino 84 here before (cuz rave-worthy!!). Actually, according to Spotify, the song I listened to most on their platform during 2019 was "Standing Back Up." I get a bit addicted to these songs.

Anyway, "Little Too Late" is the latest gem from Camino 84. I'm sure you'll dig it and check out their social stuff for information about a contest they're running right now. Dancing around to it will keep you warm on these cold January days...

Enjoy the weekend kiddos xo

CanCon Thursday - Cue Synthesizer

This will be quick because I have a thing today.  I mean, I don't always need a lot of time and space to share a really great song with you, do I?

If you're a regular reader here,  you know that I've been looking forward to the late January release of "Have We Met" by Destroyer for a while now. As it's Cancon Thursday here, I thought I'd share the latest Destroyer song, Cue Synthesizer. This makes 3 songs which have been released and so far, I love them all.

Earlier this week Pitchfork published an article and interview with Dan Bejar (check it out: Destroyer's Dan Bejar Serenades the Apocalypse). It's really a great read and made me even more excited to hear "Have We Met" in it's entirety. 

For now, untitl thewe'll just have to be happy with Cue Synthesizer. Enjoy xo

I look around the room, I see a room of pit ponies

Drowning forever in a sea of love

Way Back Wednesday - Panama

Over the holidays, we spent a large chunk of an evening waiting for some travelers to return home by bus. Either the bus was late or we had read the schedule incorrectly, either way, we were stuck in a dark, empty, cold parking lot, trying to keep the dog amused while we waited...and waited...and waited.

For our amusement, I started playing songs on my phone, primarily songs from our childhood / teen years. It was pretty goofy and a lot of fun taking this musical stroll down memory lane.  The last song we heard before the bus from Vancouver arrived was the Van Halen classic, "Panama."  From their 1984 album, entitled 1984, "Panama" (or Pamana as I just mis-typed it) was a pretty bit hit and I remember that the video was in heavy rotation on the music video shows of the era.

Re-watching the video now is amusing. I really see where Kody Brown (of Sister Wives) gets his hair inspiration.  Sadly, I guess he doesn't realize that Dave got away with that hair over 35 years ago, it doesn't really cut it now.  Anyway, for your listening enjoyment, I'm sharing Van Halen's "Panama" with you.

Happy Hump day kittens xo

She's blinding, I'm flying

Right behind the rear-view mirror now

Got the feeling, power steering

Pistons popping, ain't no stopping now

Because It's Tuesday - week of January 14

Well, finally, I'm back.

I had a wonderful break in BC. Being away for 3.5 weeks made my re-entry to Ontario and work a bit difficult. Fortunately, last week, I only worked for 2 days so that definitely helped.

Just a quick post today, to start off the new year here. Over the weekend, during a crappy rain / freezing rain storm, I took some time off to veg out and watch some TV. One of the things I watched during the storm was a documentary on Netflix about the 1960's music scene in Laurel Canyon called "Echo in the Canyon." It is hosted by Jakob Dylan and it's definitely worth watching. He interviews John Sebastian, Lou Adler, Tom Petty, Michelle Phillips and many others. In addition to sharing the original songs of the era (by The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, The Association, etc.), Jakob and some friends (including Beck, Cat Power and Fiona Apple) performing their versions of these same songs.

The cover I'm sharing today is Jakob Dylan's version of the Beach Boys song "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" (from Pet Sounds). I actually prefer the Jim James version but I found this clip from the movie and thought I should probably share this instead.  Hope you enjoy it and if you haven't listened to it lately, I just think that there is never a bad day to close your eyes and listen to the wonderful Pet Sounds.  Thank you Brian Wilson!

They say I got brains

But they ain't doing me no good

I wish they could