I don't know much at all about the funk superhero known as Capt. Sky. But judging by his name and his flame-retardant, flaming-retarded outfit, I'd have to guess that he's the low-budget version of Earth, Wind and Fire. Sort of the knockoff Mr. Pibb to their original Dr. Pepper.And, on closer inspection, I'm a little worried about where the smoke trails are coming from. "Concerned Party No. 1"? Sorry, Captain, but I think we should all be concerned about number two.
The triumphant arrival of Capt. Sky -- and his World of Tomorrow -- can only mean that it's time for the Friday Random Ten. Let's do this thing.
1. Billy Preston, "John Henry" -- Sure, Preston's a favorite for his work with the Beatles and his nice solo funk. But this song is pure genius for the simple fact that it's essentially a case of mistaken identity, as Preston has confused legendary railroad hammer-swinger John Henry with Declaration of Independence signer John Hancock. He thinks he's urging a woman to commit herself to him -- "Put your John Henry on my heart, girl / Sign your name on the bottom line" -- but is really asking her to drop the hammer on his heart. Priceless. 8/10
2. John Lee Hooker with Roy Rogers, "Terraplane Blues" -- Great blues number from the master. And no, it's not that Roy Rogers. Just some guy who got his ass kicked a lot in grade school. 7/10
3. Afro Blues Quintet Plus One, "La La La La La" -- I'm not exactly sure why this isn't just called a "sextet" but maybe it's because that sounds naughty. A band who'd give their songs such intricate titles probably doesn't handle linguistic subtlties. Words aside, it's a damn good song. 9/10
4. Elvis Presley, "Burning Love" -- I'm pretty sure this is about gonorrhea. 5/10
5. James Brown, "Your Cheatin' Heart" -- Yep, you read this correctly. This is the Godfather of Soul doing a scorching cover of a classic tune by a Founding Father of Country, Hank Williams Sr. I never thought it would work, but it's phenomenally good. 9/10
6. Superchunk, "100,000 Fireflies" -- Another great cover, this time of one of my favorite Magnetic Fields tunes. Some of Stephin Merrit's best lyrics ("Why do we keep screeching / when we mean soft things? / We should be whispering all the time") and Mac McCaughan gives them a nice indie rock punchup. 10/10
7. Gorillaz, "Bill Murray" -- This is from a Japanese issue EP for "Feel Good, Inc." I have no idea where I got this, but it's a nice slightly trippy tune. 6/10
8. The Twilight Singers, "Candy Cane Crawl" -- Greg Dulli's new, mellower project in the wake of the Afghan Whigs glory days. Nice, but nothing spectacular. 7/10
9. Helium, "Lucy" -- Somewhat amateurish sounding indie rock. This sounds like it belongs on a K Records 7" from 1993. And if that made any sense to you, then you, my friend, are a music nerd. 4/10
10. Talking Heads, "And She Was" -- I have no idea where this lies on the coolness scale. Retro '80s camp? Early alternative genius? Help me out here, people. Help me help you. 6/10
Alright, that gives me a 7.3 average. Again. I haven't seen a string of mediocrity like this since "Yes, Dear" was on the teevee. It's still on? Really? Huh.
Let's see what you've got. Drop your own FRT, or snide comments about mine, or open letters to Capt. Sky in the comments below.
9 comments:
Early aleternative genius?!?
The only T-Heads song less cool than "And She Was" is "Stay Up Late" You know, the one about a baby...
A "6" on that is serious padding.
Sorry, Captain, but I think we should all be concerned about number two.
You funny man!
Now let's get serious about rockin' out! Send the kids to the neihgbors, cuz I'm coming home drunk!
1) Crazy - GnR. I'm tempted to go with 11, but I just saw a pic of Axl this morning. Oy. 10/10
2) Steep Air - Sleater Kinney. This is one song where the sloppy guitar really works. 8/10
3) Master of Puppets - Metallica. Oh man oh man oh man! this list is shaping up to be a world slayer. I once tried to explain to a red-faced Metallica-head friend of mine that this song is about cocaine. "Dump your breakfast on a mirror," hello? Wasted several minutes of both our lives. 10/10
4) Motorbreath - Metallica. I usually hate back-to-backs, but this is some sweet action. 9/10
5) Locomotive Breath - Tull. Okay, they can't all be winners. 4/10
6) Dreamer - Europe. That's more like it! Lots of competent drum work here. 7/10
7) In the Light - Zeppelin. One of their very best. 10/10
8) Be Good Johnny - Men at Work. That poor Johnny, he just wanted a pepsi! Wait, wrong song. 6/10
9) Horse Pilot - System of a Down. crappy. 3/10
10) Girl - Danzig. Does the satanic stuff really get you women? I guess it's possible. 8/10
Pretty great list, all told. Really happy to see the old Metallica songs.
Let's do this while I'm still sober:
1) Wild Thing, Jimmy Hendrix. I love Jimmy Hendrix. A pioneer. Just not on this song. Sorry man. 6/10.
2) This is a Call, Foo Fighters. I hate myself a little for owning this CD. And I hate myself a little more for kinda liking the song. 7/10.
3) Rooster, Alice in Chains. Another fantabulous song from one of my all-time favorite bands. A cool tribute to guitar-master Jerry Cantrell's dad. 8/10.
4) Country Death Song, Fightin' Hellfish. The Fightin' Hellfish are a local Lansing band and friends of mine. Punk, with a little rockabilly/psychobilly. Awesome. 9/10.
5) This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm On This Song, SOAD. This song makes me feel like I should take cocaine just to keep up. I'm exhausted. 6/10.
6) No Excuses, Alice in Chains. Sweet! I like the Jar of Flies release, when they tried to branch out and do other types of music. AIC was one of the few bands that could do it well and not sicken their fans. Unlike Metallicorporate. 8/10.
7) Loving You is Sweeter than Ever, Susan Tedeschi. Tedeschi is one of my all-time favortie female blues performers. Her Hope and Desire release is remakes of a lot of good motown and r&b tunes and shedoes a stellar job on each of them. 9/10.
8) Take No Prisoners, Megadeth. See? This is what I am talking about. This is Megadeth before they got all clean and responsible. Speed, cocaine, heroin...all do wonders for metal. Take no prisoners, take no shit. 8/10.
9) Remorse is for the Dead, Lamb of God. Dude. The 3-minute jam at the end of the song blows my mind. The coordination between the bass guitar and the double-bass drums is as if they are played by the same person. Chunky. 9/10.
10) Perry Mason, Ozzy. Hell yes. Ending the FRT on TOP, baby. 10/10.
OM...I put the Talking Heads firmly in the Ahead-of-Their-Time-Alternative-Genius camp. Micheal Byrne is musically intelligent.
TH...Crazy is a classic on my iPod. Yeah. You know you are. You're fuckin' crazy. And old Metallica still rules the metal world.
I pretty much pulled the 6 out of my ass on that one -- Capt. Sky isn't the only one with those talents! -- but I'm just a sucker for guys in oversized suits.
Great list, Smitty. You're dead-on about Rooster. I also wish my list finished with Perry Mason. Ozzmosis is in my listening plans for this afternoon.
Overall The Heads were absolutely ahead of the curve. But by the time Little Creatures rolled around they had more than settled into the pack.
FWIW, the fact that I find a lot of Byrne and Talking Heads inaccessible confirms the genius status. But that album was pure pop.
I can agree with all of that.
I said Michael Byrne. I meant David Byrne. Oops.
Man, Smitty, if you hate yourself for having the first Foo Fighters album, you must REALLY hate me. It's okay to like them, honestly. It's never done me any harm. Also: Perry Mason is my favourite Ozzy song of all time. Well played.
1. White Light - Gorillaz. A decent enough start to the week. Short, fast, funky. 7/10.
2. Something On - The Tragically Hip. I'm not sure if these guys are cool any more. I mean, they're not on rock radio any more, but they're not on college radio any more either. This song is pretty good, though. 7/10.
3. The Great Divide - Willie Nelson. I got this album because he does a killer version of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time", but this one, like a lot of the other songs, is just average. 6/10.
4. Beware of Darkness (Acoustic) - George Harrison. Sometimes the "alternate versions" of songs are really good. This one's just okay. 6/10.
5. Kyle Quit The Band - Tenacious D. Damn but this song rocks. I wish there weren't so many sketches on this album, because the music is AWESOME. 8/10.
6. Justify My Thug - Jay Z & DJ Danger Mouse. My least favourite song on The Grey Album. The chorus just irks me. Still pretty cool. 7/10.
7. Crown of Love - Arcade Fire. All right, no waffling on this one: this band is SUPER COOL. One of the very few things that I can say unequivocably. 9/10.
8. Celebration Guns - Stars. And with this band, my 30% CanCon requirement has been met. Kind of a nice counterpoint to the previous song, with the indie rock and the string section. 8/10.
9. In A Graveyard - Rufus Wainwright. Sigh. Now officially mellow. This song's not doing much for me, I'm afraid, even though I really like the solo piano. 6/10.
10. Letter to Tracy - Keb' Mo'. This is a solidly cool blues song, no need for any analysis. 8/10.
That gives me a low-ish score of 73/100. Looks like I've got some pruning to do on my mp3 player.
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