Tiptoe Through the Tulips – A look back at a 90 year old song and the flamboyant star who made it popular 50 years ago. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #NickLucas #HumaneSociety #TinyTim

Let’s call today ‘Earworm Saturday’ on Ted Tocks Covers. This song is a beauty. The thing is, the more I watch and listen, the more I learn about Tiny Tim. With each video and anecdote, the more I like him. He was way ahead of his time. Read on for an interesting story of another man who tested the limits.

To pay proper homage to today’s feature I need to go back 90 years. ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips (with me)’ was written by Al Dubin and Joe Burke in 1929. It became a popular song as part of the film ‘Gold Diggers of Broadway’ performed by Nick Lucas; known as the “Crooning Troubadour”. The song went to #1 later that year and remained in that position for 10 weeks. Here is the original recording.

You can see that Tiny Tim was clearly doing a slightly embellished rendition. More on his style later.

Before I get to Tiny Tim, I wanted to share another interesting anecdote related to ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’. Anyone from my generation going back to the ‘baby boomers’ would be very familiar with Looney Tunes cartoons. Well, ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’ was featured prominently in the very first Looney Tunes cartoon in 1930. Try to watch the whole short, but if you want to see the ‘Tiptoe’ part skip to 1:35. Consider the fact this is the beginning of a legendary institution of cartoons that in its initial stage lasted nearly 40 years. Offshoots of the Looney Tunes family of cartoons exist to this day.

In addition to this interesting tidbit, as a sign of the times ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’ made the Top 20 as recorded by three other performers of this era. The list included; Jean Goldkette, Johnny Marvin and Roy Fox. Licensing for songs was way different in the first half of the 20^th century so artists would often try to hit pay dirt, by recording a song that had already been popularized by another performer.

By 1967, ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’ had faded into moderate obscurity, but it was temporarily revived by a California rock group called The Humane Society. It is a recording that could be used to define the innocence of the ‘60s before rebellion and the drug influenced psychedelic era emerged.

Now, for the star of our show; enter the inimitable Tiny Tim. His real name was Herbert Butros Khaury. For the purposes of this post we will refer to him as Tiny Tim. As a young boy Tiny Tim showed an aptitude for music; specifically, guitar, mandolin and ukulele. Much of this can be credited to his father who gave him a windup Gramophone and some 78 records featuring artists from 1900 through the 1930s. This began a lifelong passion for collecting early phonographs and sheet music. Tiny Tim’s love for music did not stop there. He became fascinated by the vocal delivery of the artists within this magical era of music and he set out to emulate aspects of their craft. It was here that he discovered he had an ability to sing effectively in an ‘upper registry’ or falsetto. This trait would become a signature element of his performance. As much as Tiny Tim became a novelty, it originated from a very serious place. In a famous interview on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson he explained this evolution of his style to the legendary talk show host.

“I was listening to the radio and singing along. As I was singing, I said ‘Gee, it’s strange. I can go up high as well.”

Tiny Tim

He described this revelation as a ‘religious experience. Here is that Tonight Show performance.

The thing is Tiny Tim was not an overnight success. From late 1959 through the mid ‘60s Tiny Tim had become a mainstay in the New York club scene and a hit in the famous Greenwich club district. Part of his allure was an immense popularity in the gay and lesbian club scene where he received his fist paid gigs to tremendous acclaim. Here is a quote from one of his earliest fans You may have heard of Roger Ebert?

“I first saw Tiny Tim very early in his career, in Greenwich Village in the winter of 1962–63. There was a convention of college newspaper editors, and a few of us – I remember Jeff Greenfield coming along – went to the Black Pussycat and found ourselves being entertained by a man the likes of whom we’d not seen before. He was already locally popular.”

Roger Ebert

As the ‘60s went on Tiny Tim took roles in a handful of reasonably popular movies; most notably ‘You Are What You Eat’ where he did cover versions of ‘I Got You Babe’ by Sonny and Cher, and ‘Be My Baby’ by The Ronettes. These two recordings had some pretty distinguished musical accompaniment. None other than The Band. An extended version of The Band’s ‘Basement Tapes’ album has a recording of The Band and Tiny Tim doing ‘I Got You Babe’.

But wait hockey fans, it gets better. Tiny Tim was a huge fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. In October of 1969 Tiny Tim took to the ice with his beloved Maple Leafs before a charity event at Maple Leaf Gardens. He even donned Pat Quinn’s jersey and skates and enlisted the assistance of Leafs players’ Jim McKenny and Mike Walton to help him skate. This attempt was the first time ever for Tiny Tim and he admitted that the one and only lap of the hockey shrine’s ice surface tested the outer limits of his athletic ability.

“What a thrill! Just being on the ice was great! I was always athletic spiritually, not physically.”

Tiny Tim

Here is an interview from the CBC archives:

Two months later, Tiny Tim grabbed headlines again by marrying his 17 year old girlfriend Victoria Budinger; known as Miss Vicki. At the time, Tim was 37 years old…The wedding took place on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and was viewed by 40 million people. The marriage would last three years. It was the first of several marriages for Tiny Tim who admitted he was difficult to live with. I can only imagine.

By the early ’70s, Tiny Tim’s popularity waned but he persevered through a variety of acting gigs and novelty performances on the Las Vegas strip that proved to be extremely lucrative. By the mid ‘80s his legend re-emerged through his revived popularity and he managed to enlist the alternative band Camper Van Beethoven as his backup band in a memorable 1986 concert that featured Tiny Tim performing numerous ‘50s and ‘60s classics with this versatile act. Members of Camper Van Beethoven would go on to become Cracker; a great ‘90s band.

Ten years later Tiny Tim was still touring, and while his voice was fading, and he lacked the flamboyance, he was still very popular in a more ironic way. Unfortunately, his health was becoming a concern. In the fall of 1986, he was hospitalized following a performance in Massachusetts and he remained under observation for three weeks. Doctors were adamant that if he were to be released, he should not undergo the rigors of touring and performing because his health was compromised by a variety of issues including being overweight, a heart condition and diabetes. Tiny Tim ignored the advice of many and while performing ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’ at a benefit in Minneapolis, Minnesota on this day in 1996, he collapsed on stage. His wife at the time; Miss Sue, was in attendance and with some assistance they tried to get him to a table in the concert venue in order to stabilize him. While waiting for paramedics to arrive he lost consciousness and died. He was 64 years old.

To this day there is a debate as to whether Tiny Tim was an orchestrated act or the real thing. There was definitely a genuineness to Tiny Tim’s artistry. It came from his love of music and an intoxication that was derived from performing and feeling the enthusiasm of an entertained audience. He moved with the adulation and rode the wave. Perhaps William Grimes of the New York Times said it best in Tiny Tim’s obituary.

“Tiny Tim was a romantic always in pursuit of his ideal dream.”

William Grimes

For a period of time he was living the dream and he made many people smile. Who can ask for more?

Now listen to ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’ one more time and try to get it out of your head.

Alice’s Restaurant – An accidental Thanksgiving tradition. A monumental protest song. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #ArloGuthrie

“This song is called ‘Alice’s Restaurant’. It’s about Alice…and her restaurant…”

Arlo Guthrie

This post is about ‘Alice’s Restaurant’, but it is also about Arlo Guthrie and what became a Thanksgiving tradition.  As a result of Guthrie’s carefully crafted 18 minute composition it is also about one of the most brilliant protest songs ever written.

“The song that Guthrie put together and has continued singing ever since is a kind of scathing ode to bureaucratic idiocy, to a system that so prizes conformity that it treats littering as a scandalous sin even as it celebrates military violence. And at the end, it becomes a protest song.”

Constance Grady – Vox.com

Through the years ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ has become a Thanksgiving tradition. This kind of happened by accident. Radio stations were drawn to the song based on its humor and Guthrie’s storytelling mastery. The fact that part one of the song takes place on Thanksgiving provides the primary reason for it becoming a must play track on this special occasion each year.

When Arlo Guthrie set about capturing the varying scenes that inspired Alice’s Restaurant’, he gathered a handful of interesting inspirations. As much as the song is fun to listen to, this should be as much a part of the story. It was written in a talking blues style inspired by Mississippi John Hurt among others. The repetitive finger style guitar work was known as the Piedmont style. Family friends Elizabeth Cotton, Doc Watson and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott utilized this style and impressed Arlo right from his early days of guitar playing. Guthrie arranged the riff and began the parts that became sectioned off as the prologue, part one (visiting Alice for Thanksgiving), part two (the draft) and the epilogue. The comedic delivery of the message was inspired by the lengthy monologues of popular comedians such as Lord Buckley and Bill Cosby. He became fascinated with the idea that the same story could be told to audiences on multiple occasions and still generate a comedic effect. The events that inspired this story took place in 1965. It took Arlo Guthrie about a year to write the entire piece. He spent time with English songwriter and music journalist, Karl Dallas (a fascinating character) while perfecting the passages. One of the best elements of ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ is the adaptation of the word massacre to “massacree”. This is a prime example of Arlo Guthrie’s skill as a writer and storyteller. “Massacree” is a colloquialism thought to have originated in the Ozark Mountains. A ‘massacree’ is an event so wild and improbable that the results are almost impossible to believe. It is a derivative of the word massacre, but carries a lighter and more sarcastic connotation, rather than describing anything involving actual death. On many occasions he bounced aspects of the delivery off of his friend and by late 1966 the song was complete and ready to be played before live audiences and recorded. A Guthrie family joke suggests that when Arlo had completed the epic composition and recorded a master, he sent an acetate to his father Woody, who was struggling with Huntington’s Disease. Woody passed away in early October 1967, so the joke is ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ was the last song Woody heard before passing away.

“That’s the family joke, you know? I mean, I wrote this in ’66 and my dad passed away in ’67. The record hadn’t come out, but in those days, we made test pressings out of acetate. And my manager, who was my dad’s manager also, took the acetates to the hospital where my dad was and played him the record. And, of course, the family joke is he heard the record and died. So, he died very soon after that.”

Arlo Guthrie

A little dark humour is therapeutic sometimes.

The task of trying to convey the significance of ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ is tricky. There are many side stories to the song that can take one off in many directions. In order to stay on task, I will focus on how it became a Thanksgiving tradition. In truth; Arlo Guthrie remains moderately perplexed at this phenomenon.

“That was certainly not by my design. I think it’s just one of those funny, crazy coincidences that you have an event that takes place on Thanksgiving; therefore, it becomes associated with the holiday. If I go back and look at the hits to the website for example, they will spike one day a year. I always thought; Hey if they’re gonna play one song of yours on the radio one day a year, it might as well be the longest one you wrote!”

Arlo Guthrie

It has been 52 years since ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ was released and the popularity has an interesting evolution. Before the song was actually recorded for the ultimate ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ album, the song was a work in progress. On a handful of occasions Arlo Guthrie played it live on a public radio show hosted by Bob Fass. It was WBAI in New York City. Fass hosted the graveyard shift and he would play Arlo Guthrie’s live recording because it had become increasingly popular with his audience. The station turned this into opportunity. They agreed to play it only once the listeners had pledged a certain amount of money. The popularity of the song grew from this unique beginning. In July of 1967 Guthrie performed ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ at the Newport Folk Festival. Its topical nature blended perfectly with the festival’s audience and the performance was a huge hit. Soon after WBAI offered to record the song in front of a studio audience. This recording would eventually become a side of the ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ album. Arlo Guthrie was not that big on the recording and ultimate release because for the most part the recording captured him playing to an audience who had mostly heard the song before. It lacked the spontaneity it needed to be authentic. This has been an issue for Arlo Guthrie ever since. He ultimately stopped singing it once the Vietnam War ended. He would revive it on special anniversaries such as 20, 30, 40 and 50 year milestones.

“I remember playing it in the Sixties into the early Seventies. And I actually remember the day I realized I was never gonna sing it before a virgin audience again, that everybody I was about to play it for had already heard it and were coming back to hear it for the second time. It’s one of the pivotal moments in my life. And I thought, should I keep doing it or not? I didn’t want the nostalgia perversion to replace the joy I had delivering that for the first time. I did it for another few years. But then the war ended. And times began to change, so I just quit… So, I decided I would do it on the occasional 10-year anniversaries. So, I did a 30th anniversary tour and then I’d quit doing it. And then I did a 40th anniversary tour and then I quit doing it. I didn’t actually think I would live long enough to have to do the 50th anniversary tour.”

Arlo Guthrie

Each time he revived it, Guthrie pretty much had to relearn the presentation. He noted that it was not like riding a bike. There were issues related to timing of the guitar work and delivery of key lines.  You can go to YouTube and see live versions of the song through the years and detect elements of the challenges he faced. The end result was always a positive performer/audience experience. It remains an immense crowd favourite. Key moments still inspire genuine laughter, and the overall message still gets through.

The fact that the true message of the song is still relevant today is both eerie and sad. Somehow, through the years Arlo Guthrie managed to remain hopeful.

“It’s celebrating idiocy you might say. I mean, thank God that the people that run this world are not smart enough to keep running it forever.”

Arlo Guthrie

Amen to that! It makes you wonder. Fifty years later we are still hopeful, but to quote Bob Dylan, ‘the idiot wind’ still blows.

Ironically, the length of the song is 18:34 which is roughly the same length as the gap in the Nixon Watergate tapes. Arlo Guthrie has often quipped that the song may explain that mysterious space in the infamous tapes.

As we currently sit and watch one of the most corrupt governments in modern history systematically destroy democracy, this irony is not lost on many. Again, we say…

“Hopefully the people currently running this world cannot go on running it forever.”

Arlo Guthrie

We can only hope.

This Saturday, Arlo Guthrie will perform his Annual Thanksgiving Concert. This performance has become a beloved tradition for so many. After 52 years, Arlo has decided that 2019 will be his final Thanksgiving Show at Carnegie Hall. I guarantee you, ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ will be on the setlist. The audience will sing along with every word of the chorus and they will laugh at all the right moments. For Arlo Guthrie, it will be like he is playing it again, for the first time and for the audience it will be a lasting memory and a concert moment to treasure.

In keeping with the theme of ‘Ted Tocks Covers’ I am always in search of a cover version to share. In the case of ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ there are no cover versions to speak of, but Arlo Guthrie has created many updated versions of this presentation. Perhaps the most entertaining version was created in this remake from 1995 where he equates his song with the missing 18 minutes in the Richard Nixon ‘Watergate tapes’.

“I know there’s people sitting in this very room tonight that don’t believe that songs can change the world, or that songs can change the destiny of nations. I don’t blame ya, I wouldn’t have thought so myself…So when the song comes around again on the guitar, remember that songs can change the destiny of nations. Even if it’s only by coincidence. You just have to know the words, have the feelin’ and wait for it to come around again on the guitar.”

Arlo Guthrie

This type of modification has kept ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ fresh for over 50 years. He has been able to tie it into current events such as the obvious Vietnam War references, Watergate, the Gulf War, the Bush administration, and more.

Maybe on Saturday night Arlo Guthrie has another surprise in store for his Carnegie Hall audience? Two things are for sure. On Saturday a tradition will come to an end and as that tradition comes to a close an audience will be thoroughly entertained and leave Carnegie Hall with smiles on their faces. In that sense it is pretty clear.

“Music changes lives.”

Thanks Arlo!

Radio Ga Ga – Part two of why radio matters. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #Queen #RogerTaylor #FreddieMercury #PaulRodgers #AdamLambert #ElectricSix

Welcome to part two of my salute to radio. Yesterday, I focused on the importance of DJs. Today is more about the continued relevance of the medium.

When Roger Taylor wrote ‘Radio Ga Ga’ he was inspired by an observation that television, and more specifically video, was replacing radio in terms of popularity. The lyrics reflect back on the ability of radio to take you to another place, whether it was comedy, drama or science fiction. Above all, he was concerned that the advent of MTV was taking the aural significance of music and making video more important. He was not enamored with this trend.

That’s part of what the song’s about, really. The fact that they [music videos] seem to be taking over almost from the aural side, the visual side seems to be almost more important.”

Roger Taylor

The concept for ‘Radio Ga Ga’ began with a line from Roger Taylor’s young son, who blurted out ‘Radio Caca’ which in Taylor’s eyes spoke to the fact that too much of what he was hearing was ‘shit’. The theme emerged from this point and Taylor developed it in a masterful way. It originated as a condemnation of radio but based on Queen’s urging ‘Radio Ga Ga’ developed it became an effort to praise the medium.

I’d sit alone and watch your light
My only friend through teenage nights
And everything I had to know
I heard it on my radio

You gave them all those old time stars
Through wars of worlds invaded by Mars
You made ’em laugh, you made ’em cry
You made us feel like we could fly (radio)

So don’t become some background noise
A backdrop for the girls and boys
Who just don’t know or just don’t care
And just complain when you’re not there

You had your time, you had the power
You’ve yet to have your finest hour
Radio (radio)

All we hear is radio ga ga
Radio goo goo
Radio ga ga
All we hear is radio ga ga
Radio blah blah
Radio, what’s new?
Radio, someone still loves you

We watch the shows, we watch the stars
On videos for hours and hours
We hardly need to use our ears
How music changes through the years

Let’s hope you never leave old friend
Like all good things on you we depend
So stick around ’cause we might miss you
When we grow tired of all this visual

You had your time, you had the power
You’ve yet to have your finest hour
Radio (radio)

All we hear is radio ga ga
Radio goo goo
Radio ga ga
All we hear is radio ga ga
Radio goo goo
Radio ga ga
All we hear is radio ga ga
Radio blah blah
Radio, what’s new?
Someone still loves you

Radio ga ga
Radio ga ga
Radio ga ga

You had your time, you had the power
You’ve yet to have your finest hour
Radio (radio)

Roger Taylor and Freddie Mercury

By drawing the listener in to significant galvanizing moments in radio history, Roger Taylor is able to channel his love of the medium while demonstrating its importance in the history of music and culture. The two examples he cites are Orson Welles 1938 made for radio adaptation of H.G. Wells 1898 novel ‘War of the Worlds’ which had the power to convince thousands of listeners that Earth was being invaded by Mars, and the famous 1940 wartime speech from the House of Commons in England where Winston Churchill declared “this was their (the allies) finest hour.”

As Taylor developed his presentation, he locked himself in a room with a drum machine and a synthesizer and developed the music track. He originally intended for it to be on an upcoming solo album but when he played it for his Queen bandmates they identified with the sentiment, and the musical potential of the track. John Deacon added a bass line, Brian May added his distinct guitar work which is relatively understated until the end when he blends in some effective slide.

Enter, Freddie Mercury and his vision. When Mercury listened to the track that was unfolding, he felt there was something bigger happening, so with Taylor’s permission he made slight modifications to the lyrics, added some harmonies and touched up the overall arrangement. These modifications ultimately included the assistance of a session keyboardist from Estevan, Saskatchewan named Fred Mandel. Mandel’s work with Queen went back to their Hot Space album in 1980. His working relationship with Queen had evolved to the point that he was invited to perform with the band on the Hot Space tour. The collaboration saw him contribute to several tracks on the 1984 album The Works, including; ‘Man on the Prowl’, ‘Hammer to Fall’ and today’s feature. Mandel has also played with Pink Floyd, Elton John, Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, Supertramp and Anthrax. The arpeggiated synth bass parts give ‘Radio Ga Ga’ its strong ‘80s feel. Initially, ‘Radio Ga Ga’ was met with a raised eyebrow among Queen fans, but it gradually won them over, ironically through the video presentation and ultimately its strength as a live track.

Once ‘Radio Ga Ga’ was completed as an album track and it was projected to be the lead single the band knew they had to come up with a video. This is where the song hit another level in terms of the story it conveys. Queen brought in producer David Mallet and they worked on a backdrop that featured a 1927 science fiction movie called Metropolis. The band is depicted driving around in a flying car taking in the drab working class city. This footage is balanced by scenes that capture a family who enjoy quality time while sitting at their dining room table, listening to the radio while wearing gas masks. The radio represents a beacon of hope and escape. The power of the video emerges in the passages where Queen performs before a massive audience who engage in the memorable chorus clap. The extras, who represent the working class citizens of the futuristic city all managed to nail the clapping sequence in one take. Ironically, it took the band members a couple of attempts to synchronize their effort. The end result of this has led to some powerful concert moments as the band and has played it over the 35 years of its existence.

No one will ever forget Queen’s performance at Live Aid? Freddie Mercury literally stole the show in what is still considered to be one of the finest sets of music ever. Check out the massive Wembley Stadium crowd clapping in unison. Brian May is on record as saying he wasn’t sure how the song would go over in this set because it was still relatively new in 1985. He marveled at the way the crowd picked up on the song.

“I remember thinking ‘oh great, they’ve picked it up’ and then I thought ‘this is not a Queen audience’. This is a general audience who’ve bought tickets before they even knew we were on the bill. And they all did it. How did they know? Nobody told them to do it.”

Brian May

Freddie Mercury took full command and the sea of euphoric faces with hands clapping in unison is one of the most powerful memories of that day. Yet another example of how music brings people together.

‘Radio Ga Ga’ went on to become a #1 single in 19 countries and by virtue of its massive success it remains a standard track during every Queen concert. Here is Paul Young singing ‘Radio Ga Ga with Queen in 1992 at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. This is significant because today marks the anniversary of Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991.

Queen has gone on to perform in several incarnations and each one delivers a solid rendition of ‘Radio Ga Ga’. Here is Queen with Paul Rodgers in 2005. Notice how strong Roger Taylor is on vocals and in his presentation of the song he originated. It is not lost on many that Roger Taylor is a very good vocalist and songwriter. His role in this capacity with Queen took a backseat to Freddie, but there is no doubt he is sensational in his own right.

Here is Queen with Paul Rodgers taking the entire lead vocal. Somehow it doesn’t seem as strong, even though Rodgers has been a legendary rock vocalist for several decades. Something is missing.

In recent years Queen has been recording and touring with Adam Lambert. Adam has the flamboyance and the voice to pull off the Freddie Mercury presentation and he does an admirable job. Here he is doing ‘Radio Ga Ga’ earlier this fall. This performance seemed appropriate to share because it takes place at the Global Citizen Festival. Queen headlined the 2019 edition of this festival which aims to end extreme poverty. The vision of the presenters is to ask global citizens to contribute to charities on the website. Awareness is developed in the form of watching videos and signing petitions. Through this participation fans can get free tickets to the festival. The goal for organizers is to make the event “global” by live streaming events in public locations. Since 2015, the goals of the festival have been closely aligned with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals which include 17 tasks to end extreme global poverty by 2030. Global Citizen’s model of ticket distribution in 2017 generated 1.6 million actions in two months, equaling commitments and announcements of $3.2 billion for sustainable development and affecting 221 million people.

To close out today’s post here is a unique take on ‘Radio Ga Ga’ by a Detroit based band called Electric Six. They covered the song in 2004 and it was released against their wishes under pressure from their label. The group had performed it as a live performance staple, but they never intended for it to be a release. Once the single was released they followed it up with a video where their singer, Dick Valentine was depicted as the ghost of Freddie Mercury dancing on or near his own grave. To many this was seen as disrespectful to Mercury’s memory. It was met with the usual five minutes of fake outrage, forcing Valentine and Electric Six to offer this apology.

Though some have claimed this video portrays me dancing on Freddie Mercury’s grave, actually it’s more like we are resurrecting Mr. Mercury for the duration of the song and his grave is the logical starting point.”

Dick Valentine

Gradually, sanity prevailed. It is a reasonable cover and an interesting way to close this post.

Remember the power of the audio medium we know as radio.

Let’s hope you never leave old friend
Like all good things on you we depend
So stick around ’cause we might miss you
When we grow tired of all this visual

Roger Taylor and Freddie Mercury

Sometimes we need to close our eyes and let our imagination take us to another place. Music, and more specifically radio, has always had the ability to take us there whenever we let it happen. Let’s hope it never leaves us, because there is no doubt that we would miss it, if it was gone.

The Last DJ – Reflections on people in my corner of the world who made radio matter. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #TomPetty #JimLadd #WallyCrouter #TomRivers #ScruffConnors #BrotherJakeEdwards

“A love song about radio.”

Jim Ladd

Today’s post is the first of a two part feature that will speak to my love for radio; my companion for about 45 years and the origin of my passion for music. I know I am not alone.

‘The Last DJ’ by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was released in 2002 on his album of the same name. It is one of many songs that drew me in the first time I heard it. The strength of the message was one thing. The powerful lament is sung from the perspective of a person like me or you, who loves music and is troubled by the loss of their favourite DJ from their radio station of choice. On the surface ‘The Last DJ’ is about the corporate takeover of radio stations and the resulting inability of a DJ to ‘play what he wants to play’, but in reality, there is a deeper meaning. Tom Petty used radio as a metaphor for society and his perception that at the core we are losing our moral compass. Through our failure to stand up for what we believe, and as a result of not exercising our freedom of choice we have given up our voice to governments and corporations. From his point of view this has resulted in a very shallow society who have lost elements of personal control.

Radio was just a metaphor. ‘The Last DJ’ was really about losing our moral compass, our moral center. We don’t care who gets hurt any more in the quest for the dollar. That was what I was trying to say. My mistake was hanging so much of it on the music business; where had I been, under a rock?”

Tom Petty

To nobody’s surprise, ‘The Last DJ’ did not get a lot of radio play; in fact, it was banned by many stations for being ‘anti radio’. This was a point of pride for Tom Petty. He knew if the song struck a nerve that his message had been received.

 I was elated when my song was banned. I remember when the radio meant something. We enjoyed the people who were on it, even if we hated them. They had personalities. They were people of taste, who we trusted. And I see that vanishing.”

Tom Petty

Integrity becomes the common theme. Tom Petty took a lot of criticism for ‘The Last DJ’. He stood by his message. He took solace in the fact that his message was supported. One of the most notable reinforcements of his statement came from true friend and longtime collaborator, Bob Dylan:

Don’t confuse things that are popular with things that are really good.”

Bob Dylan

Integrity; this is where the story behind the song really resides. The inspiration for ‘The Last DJ’ stems from Tom Petty’s concern for society and filters down to his love of radio, but he needed a figure that would embody the message that he was trying to portray. He found that source in a legendary Los Angeles disc jockey named Jim Ladd.

Those of you who are not familiar with Jim Ladd please let it suffice to say he is the absolute best DJ I have ever heard in the true sense of spinning music that inspires. His history in the industry is fascinating and his connections are vast. He is to radio, what an artist like Tom Petty is to songwriting. He is at the pinnacle of his craft based on a combination of passion, vast knowledge and above all else, integrity. Jim Ladd’s radio career goes back 50 years to a small radio station in Long Beach called KNAC. From the early ‘70s through the mid ‘80s Ladd alternated between popular L.A. radio stations KLOS and KMET. In 1987 he was caught up in the type of industry related decision that speaks to the theme of ‘The Last DJ’. Two months after he moved to KMET from KLOS, the radio station management shocked the industry by dropping its rock-oriented format. In the fallout the corporate team fired the entire staff, changed the station call letters to KTWV (The Wave) and adopted a new age format. The kicker…no DJs. Just formatted music 24/7. What the hell! This model caught on and changed the radio industry, for the worse.

As a result of this purge Jim Ladd had to reinvent himself. Truthfully, by virtue of his vision, industry knowledge and established connections this was a positive transition. Music fans are still reaping the benefits thirty years later.

While working on and off in radio and riding the wave of mindless corporate nonsense, Jim Ladd established himself as the perfect image of a DJ with integrity and managed to cast himself in that role in several projects. In 1987, he portrayed a fictional character named DJ Jim on Roger Waters album Radio K.A.O.S. This role led to Ladd joining Waters on the ensuing tour and he was featured in three videos promoting the album. Two years later, Ladd was approached by legendary writer Cameron Crowe to appear in the movie; Say Anything, where he played the role of an all-night DJ on a free form radio show; in other words, he essentially played himself. He would go on to play parts in several other movies including, Tequila Sunrise, Rush, She’s Out of Control and Defender. In 1991 he wrote a semi-autobiographical book called Radio Waves: Life and Revolution on the FM Dial. In this book several people were referenced negatively in pseudonyms but many of his positive associations insisted that they be identified by their actual ‘on air’ names. What a testimonial.

Through the ‘90s and up to 2011, Jim Ladd shone in his role as the king of free form rock radio. He played deep tracks from influential records, often telling stories about artists and their inspiration. He brought radio to life. It was like hanging out with a friend listening to album after album and contemplating the source of influence that inspired every song. The listener had a front row seat to hundreds of great stories; as a result, it was captivating. The Jim Ladd show evolved into a series of nationally syndicated programs that included insightful interviews, concert specials and on occasion album premiers. Artists recognized that if you wanted to launch a release; take it to Jim Ladd. He became synonymous with credibility.

But then…(with Jim Ladd there is always a ‘but then’) in late 2011 he was caught up in yet another industry purge. KLOS was acquired by Cumulus Media and in the transaction many employees were terminated, including Ladd. As a final middle finger salute to the shortsighted corporate monsters, Jim Ladd hosted a three hour farewell broadcast on a Los Angeles AM radio station. Two months later Jim Ladd began his show on Sirius XM Radio. A live free form program on Deep Tracks – 27. I can’t get enough of listening to this bit of radio magic. It is what radio should be. During every show he manages to create themed sets that either expose me to incredible songs that I have never heard, or he brings me back to ‘forgotten gems’ from the past that make me smile. If there he is a deep track on an album that I love he seems to have the ability to play it on his show and make me say “Wow! This guy gets it.” The Jim Ladd Show is the only time I have ever heard ‘The Camera Eye’ by Rush on the radio. No other DJ or station does that. This is just one example. It is a musical journey that I highly recommend for every music lover.

Getting back to today’s feature song, when Jim Ladd discusses ‘The Last DJ’ he is relatively modest. He says it may have been ‘partially inspired by me’. The funny thing is when Tom Petty played the song for him, Jim Ladd was so moved by the message of the song and the medium he loved that he did not see that the song really was about him. The story he relates is yet another glimpse from the inside. His story is riveting and funny. Best of all it speaks to both his humility and his love for an industry that he firmly believes in with all his heart and soul.

The liner notes of ‘The Last DJ’ album includes the following passage.

Thanks to Jim Ladd for his inspiration and courage.”

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Liner notes to The Last DJ

Keep in mind, this message is directly from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to Jim Ladd. Again, what a testimonial.

How influential is Jim Ladd?

In 2005 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His induction speech was offered by none other than Jackson Browne.

I have been listening to the radio closely for about 45 years. It all started when I was given a clock/radio as a birthday gift when I was eight or nine. I tuned it to CFRB because that is what my parents listened to. I set the alarm each morning and from that day on I was awakened to the true magic of radio. The friendly voice of the DJ and their ability to bring every listener along for the ride. CFRB’s morning man was Wally Crouter. Mr. Crouter was a living radio legend. His career lasted exactly 50 years. I felt like he was talking to me. The stories he told drew me in. The music he played opened me up to artists like Gordon Lightfoot and ABBA among others. The time I spent listening helped me understand the uplifting nature of music like nothing I had experienced before. Wally Crouter understood his role and few in my experience have ever, or will ever duplicate his skill in this capacity.

 I always tried to put myself in the place of the listener. … It’s the most personal time of the day. The radio is on while you’re doing your morning ablutions, getting dressed, having breakfast with the kids coming to the table. … I’ve had a surgeon write me to tell me that, when he had three serious operations to do in a day, he started off by listening to my show so he could achieve the right relaxation and focus he needed.”

Wally Crouter

As I grew older I began to mix my listening a little and my focus gravitated to rock music oriented formats. I stuck with CFRB for news and sports and Wally’s stories, but I often flipped to a station called CFTR or CHUM. My aforementioned radio was AM only. Here I found the legendary Tom Rivers. As much as Wally Crouter was refined and dignified Tom Rivers was zany and tested the limits of AM radio conventionality. He brought characters into his act that made me laugh out loud and become a little less sheltered. I will always remember a drug addled music festival dropout named ‘Ashley Roachclip’ who would make random visits to the show as presented by Rivers. The segments were hysterical. As a pre-teen I was moderately awakened to a bigger world.  

Once I made my way downstairs, my morning routine had me turn on the family stereo and move over to the FM band and my all-time favourite station, Q107. This is where I found the wacky and often controversial Scruff Connors. Every morning Scruff would open the door to the outer reaches of all possibilities with hilarious results. Often, the conversation at school later that morning would surround the craziness my friends and I had heard that morning. Listener call in segments such as ‘Beat the Bologna’ or publicity stunts that saw him riding a roller coaster called the Canadian Minebuster at Canada’s Wonderland 107 times in seven hours. If memory serves, he threw up after a few circuits of the once renowned theme park ride, but he kept on going. There may have been a charity involved. I don’t remember. I just know it was candid and above all, cutting edge. On one other occasion he locked himself in the radio station’s studio and played ‘Stairway to Heaven’ by Led Zeppelin repeatedly, much to the chagrin of station management. I don’t recall the message he was trying to send. I just remember thinking this guy does it his way. What a character. His post Q107 history involved a series of antics that managed to make their way back to Toronto area media sources. My favourite was in the early ‘90s when the ‘New Kids on the Block’ were a big deal he told his listenership that he was going to bring the ‘New Kids’ live to his St. Catharines’ CHTZ-FM studio. The boy band were playing in nearby Hamilton that week, so it was moderately believable. The only catch was the station was a heavy rock format and Scruff and his morning zoo friends often spoke with disdain about this blatantly commercial act. Nevertheless, hundreds of fans showed up in gleeful anticipation and shrieked with delight as a series of limos pulled up. It was at this point the fans were greeted by several mothers and their newborn infants as they emerged from the limos, unwittingly the punchline of Scruff’s practical joke. CHTZ-FM was forced to secure their premises from a small throng of angry fans who demanded an apology. Scruff only laughed at the gullibility. These are only about three of 300 similar gimmicks that made Scruff one of the best morning show hosts ever when it comes to gonzo radio.

I remember being disappointed when Scruff left Q107. I am not sure whether ‘Brother’ Jake Edwards immediately replaced Scruff Connors or not, but at first I was resistant to the change. Seriously, who could ever replace the beloved ‘Scruffer’? Well, ‘Bro’ Jake did an admirable job. His answer was a brilliant character known as ‘The Champ’; a punch drunk boxer with no capacity for understanding nuance in conversation. The Champ made a daily appearance and his hair trigger temper would often get him into trouble. These episodes consisted of an innocent social interaction that turned into a hopeless misunderstanding leaving the Champ’s conversation partner in an unconscious heap after a flurry of punches. The dialogue in these segments were brilliantly written. Heather and I, along with our group of friends would often sit around and make up our own segments. What a blast. Great memories! Here is one of our favourites:

Ever since, I’ve been The Champ.”

‘Brother’ Jake Edwards

Suffice to say; music has the ability to unite us all. For me, through the years there have been many instances where radio was the first stepping stone to this amazing journey. Each of these occasions was marked by a DJ who brought the music to life through their stories, their passion or just by being a ‘companion unobtrusive’ (a tip of the hat to Neil Peart of Rush).

All of this is a long-winded, but honest way of bringing it back to my original purpose of talking about original songs and quality cover versions. In my effort to find covers of ‘The Last DJ’ I was struck by two things. First, it seems that few big name artists if any, have aimed to cover this song. I suspect that this speaks to the fact Tom Petty is so highly regarded. This was Tom Petty’s message and they left the final word to him. Secondly, it has been covered by numerous independent artists who obviously revere Tom Petty and much like fans of his music, identify with the message.

Here is Jason Herr.

This is kind of cool. David Brookings covers ‘The Last DJ’ as one of 50 Tom Petty covers. Again, it speaks to how loved Tom Petty is as an artist.

Before I sign off, here is a quality live version of ‘The Last DJ’.

Join me tomorrow for some more personal reflections on the magic of radio and of course a feature song and some incredible covers.

Home for a Rest – Raise a glass to #JohnMann and #SpiritoftheWest #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #CastleKelly #GlassofBeer

If this song doesn’t make you get up and dance, you don’t have a pulse.

When a song does this to you every time you hear it, it transcends entertainment and becomes a cultural institution. Today we celebrate the song and an inspiring life of a man who was born to entertain through his words and infectious music.

‘Home for a Rest’ by Spirit of the West was originally written as a poem that combined drunken revelry with a longing for home. It was written by John Mann and Geoffrey Kelly while on one of the band’s first major tours in England in the late ‘80s. The signature Spirit of the West song was recorded in 1989 and released in 1990 on the band’s epic Save this House album. The irony is this famous Canadian party song almost didn’t make the album.

The recording sessions for Save this House were pretty much complete and producer Danny Greenspoon was getting ready to head back to Toronto when the band brought up this ‘other piece’ they were working on. They admitted that it was a work in progress, but they liked the way the Celtic influenced tune was taking form, so they suggested they take a stab at recording it for the upcoming record. When Greenspoon heard it, he loved it right away. It was the last song recorded for the Save this House sessions and it has been a Spirit of the West crowd favourite for thirty years.

Here is Geoffrey Kelley’s account of the overall surprise at the fact ‘Home for a Rest’ became an iconic hit.

“It is to me still very strange that Canada has really latched on to the song, because the song is really about being in the U.K…. We had no plans for it to be a single or even a video… despite all of that, it’s powered through, and it’s by far our most loved song.”

Geoffrey Kelley

The beauty of the song lies in its delivery, as it takes the listener on a pub crawl through England. You can close your eyes and feel the energy of ‘Spirit of the West’ playing live. The spirit is contagious.

So naturally, I have always been fascinated by the influences that inspire such memorable creations. This is what led to the writing of this blog. Through the years, I have noted a handful of interesting connections and today is the perfect day to share some of these with you. Spirit of the West was obviously heavily influenced by traditional Scottish/Celtic music. For ‘Home for a Rest’ they drew from a music type known as a ‘reel’. The folk dance that resulted blended great fiddle work with guitar, bagpipes, flute, accordion and the overwhelming urge to dance. Here is a phenomenal live version of a traditional Irish folk song called ‘Castle Kelly’.

When you blend this with an increasingly upbeat tale known as ‘Glass of Beer’ the contrasting melancholy and raucous pub tune evolves, and you get what would become one of Canada’s greatest party songs.

‘Home for a Rest’ takes on an even bigger significance today. Spirit of the West front man, Johnny Mann was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2014. Those closest to Mann thought the disease may have been triggered by a battle with colorectal cancer he faced in 2010/11 and won. In 2015, Mann performed a concert that featured solo material and songs by Spirit of the West. It was broadcast by CBC Television’s Absolutely Canadian under the title John Mann Here and Now. Here is that story. What a brave performance when you consider what Mann was living through at the time.

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2670972234

Spirit of the West was also the subject of a provocative documentary called ‘Spirit Unforgettable’ that featured Mann as he was going through the challenges of the disease and incredibly, preparing for a Spirit of the West concert at Massey Hall. Here is ‘Home for a Rest’ from that concert. Watch this magical moment where Mann briefly forgets a line and the crowd literally carries him through the verse. The resulting set closer left the audience in a state of euphoria and in all likelihood a little weepy. What a moment.

When 2016 came around, buoyed by the success of the CBC performance Mann announced that he would perform with Spirit of the West as long as he was able. It was announced that the band would play a final concert in April of that year. Here is ‘Home for a Rest’ from the final concert at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver. Yet another beautiful moment. The crowd clearly understood the magnitude of the performance and they took it to another level. Again…incredibly powerful.

After Spirit of the West concluded their incredible run of bringing audiences together, John Mann’s bandmates and a vast array of friends in the music industry carried the torch and they continue to this day. Here is the first edition of an Alzheimer fundraiser known as ‘Spirit of John’ which brought together an impressive collection of Canadian artists. Have a look and listen. This is awesome.

Last fall ‘Home for a Rest’ was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

“We wouldn’t all be here if it weren’t for songs. I know this award would mean so much to John, because that’s how it all begins. At a kitchen table with a cup of tea, pencil, and blank piece of paper. A song is still the beating heart of the music world, and we’re honoured to accept this award here today.”

Geoffrey Kelley

This was a fitting way to honour John Mann and his contribution to Canadian music.

‘Home for a Rest’s range of influence goes from punk acts all the way to the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. It can be played at every dance hall, pub or wedding and it is guaranteed to fill the floor. A note to DJs. If you ever play this song before midnight you should automatically lose your license.

Sadly, John Mann passed away yesterday as a result of the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease. He was only 57. The memories and adulation have been flowing in.

His songs and his lyrics particularly, will be remembered for generations. He had such a gift for finding the universal in the every day.”

Vince Ditrich

This is the lasting impression of John Mann. As much as ‘Home for a Rest’ is a renowned party song it should be noted that Mann and Spirit of the West wrote some very important songs related to environmentalism, social activism and politics. They are an important band in Canadian music. As long as people are celebrating in large groups ‘Home for a Rest’ will bring people together in celebration.

On this day we should raise a glass to John Mann.

Wake Me Up Before You Go Go – Let music take you where your heart wants to go. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #Wham #GeorgeMichael #KatharineHamnett #Queen #KateDavison #Pomplamoose #LeoMoracchioli #FamilyGuy

“… music takes me
Where my heart wants to go.”

Cat Stevens

Today’s feature may catch some of you off guard. Read on and I hope you understand where I am coming from. It all connects to the Cat Stevens quote I paraphrased to lead into the post, and a lesson I have learned in recent years.

I could summarize this and save you a five minute read, and then you could just go straight to the cover versions of today’s feature.

George Michael was good at writing songs.

In the early days this included his part in the pop duo called Wham. Let’s just say in 1984, Wham did not reside in my world of listening and I wrote it off as silly commercial tripe and paid as little attention as possible. I was not alone here. Following the break up of Wham, George Michael was not always positive about what he perceived as a blatant effort to reach the lucrative teen audience. His musical partnership with Andrew Ridgely dissolved largely because he wanted to pursue a more sophisticated style of performance. But the truth is, ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ made people happy. To this day you can still sense the positive emotion that emanates when the song is played.

It all started because of a mistake Andrew Ridgely made while writing a note to his parents. The note was intended to say, “Wake me up before you go,” but he accidentally wrote ‘up’ twice. Rather than cross out the second ‘up’, he opted to add a second go so the note read:

“Wake me up up before you go go.”

Andrew Ridgely

Fortunately, Ridgely’s parents kept the note and they all shared it with George Michael who immediately gravitated to the possibilities of the line.

“I just wanted to make a really energetic pop record that had all the best elements of Fifties and Sixties records, combined with our attitude and our approach, which is obviously more up tempo and a lot younger than some of those records. It’s one of those tracks that gets rid of a lot of your own personal influences; it reminds me of so many different records that I couldn’t actually nail them down. I’d done a demo at home that just had a bass line and a vocal on it. Usually, I write the record in my head; I know what all the parts are going to be and I sing them to all our musicians. And it was great. … We actually did it as a rehearsal. We used a LinnDrum because the drummer was late, and it was such a good track that we kept it.”

George Michael

For Wham it was mission accomplished. The song was released in the U.K. in May of 1984 and it vaulted to #4 on the charts. A week later it was #1. The song was released in August of 1984 and it went to #1 on the Billboard Chart on this day later that year. But, the song itself is only part of the story. There was a video…and there was a shirt that each of George Michael and Andrew Ridgely wore in the video. The message became almost as important as the song.

“CHOOSE LIFE”

Katharine Hamnett

In the MTV era the video was a necessary accompaniment to any single release. It had to be memorable. Sometimes videos would resonate with an audience because of the obvious effort the artists put into the presentation, and other times the reason for the lasting impression is almost accidental. In the case of ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” it was the latter. The video’s director Andy Morahan decided to keep it relatively simple. Wham would perform the song to an audience of teens at Brixton Academy in South London. The focus would be on the dynamic between Wham’s performance and their adoring young audience. It seemed simple enough, and on the surface that goal was fulfilled. Due to the popularity of the song, the video became a huge hit. The fact Ridgely and Michael wore the oversized t-shirt designed by Katharine Hamnett, emblazoned with the message “CHOOSE LIFE” helped lead to a huge fashion craze.

The shirt was actually launched in 1983. Hamnett is a U.K. fashion designer who is known for her political t-shirts and ethical business philosophy. In order to get a message across she believed in two basic components:

1. You need a strong message and present it in bold letters on the shirt.
2. You need prominent people to wear the fashion.

The “Choose Life” slogan was inspired by a Buddhist exhibit she saw that spoke against war, death and destruction. It is unfortunate to note that religious zealots in the United States tried to present the “Choose Life” message as part of a ‘pro-life’ and ‘anti-abortion’ movement. Hamnett was quick to dispel any notion that she was connected with these narrow-minded fools.

“It’s not about the anti-abortion lobby. The US anti-abortion lobby attempted to appropriate CHOOSE LIFE. We are taking it back and promoting its real meaning. Ours is authentic and I believe in a woman’s right to choose.”

Katharine Hamnett

If you think back to this time period Hamnett’s stance in the pro-choice and ultimately, the gay rights movement put her way ahead of her time. Katharine Hamnett went on to produce several other similar designs, most recently “CHOOSE LOVE” in order to support ‘Help Refugees’ and to increase compassion, understanding and support for the plight of refugees around the world.

Wham was not the only act to wear the ‘CHOOSE LIFE’ message in a video. Check out Queen’s Roger Taylor in this video promoting ‘Hammer to Fall’.

For a really well written article on the significance of the ‘CHOOSE LIFE’ message read this post by Kate Davison.

https://overland.org.au/2017/02/choose-life-a-short-history/

Getting back to me in the early ‘80s, and my narrow minded view on music; let’s just say that I was heavily focused on the British Invasion, the ‘60s, hard rock and Rush. Obviously, I had no time for Wham. I was blissful in my ignorance. I tuned out. I never knowingly listened to the entire song in one sitting until about 2012. Here is how out of touch I was.

I was Christmas shopping in 1984. I needed a gift for my good friend, Heather. I was wandering through Stone Road Mall in Guelph and I noticed a window display in a trendy fashion store that until that day I had never dared to venture. My look never went too far beyond faded Levi’s jeans, a concert t-shirt and an oversized plaid flannel long sleeved shirt. The mannequins in this display made me look twice. They all wore a shirt with the message “CHOOSE LIFE”. I thought this was interesting. Heather was a major advocate for peace, anti-war and anti-nukes. At the time this was a prevalent theme in society due to the media saturation of the ‘Cold War’. It was perfect, I thought. I will buy it for Heather, and she will be on the cutting edge, all because of me and my shrewd eye for fashion and all the latest trends. I went in and slapped down a twenty.

“Would you like this gift wrapped,” the New Wave girl behind the counter asked.

“No thanks. I will wrap it myself.” I responded, thinking to myself “what makes you so sure it is not for me?” Hmmmpf…what an insult! Then, I looked in the mirror behind the counter and saw myself wearing a jersey from Rush’s ‘Signals’ tour. I casually flipped back my shoulder length feathered hair, parted in the middle and left the store as a song began over the store P.A. I heard the words “Jitterbug” repeated four times with a finger snap. I shook my head. I will never be a conformist…

At Christmas, Heather and I exchanged gifts. I was so proud.

When Heather opened the shirt she proclaimed, “Oh Wow! A Wham shirt. Thanks!”

 My smile faded. “Wait! What?”

“This is the shirt George Michael wears in the Wham video for ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go Go’.

I need to be clear here. Heather was always interested in cool music, but she has always been way more open minded than me. She loved to dance so she was definitely attracted to the ‘80s sound as much as the more rock-oriented music I preferred.

I nearly fainted.

I went on to explain that I bought it because of the message “CHOOSE LIFE” so I got it half right. I took a fair bit of ridicule for being so utterly clueless, yet somehow managing to get a gift that mattered. That was thirty-five years ago. Today we are married with three adult children. I still border on moderately oblivious (some days completely oblivious) and Heather alternates between gleeful pride in pointing it out, or abject frustration and bewilderment as to how I can possibly function in day to day society.

This is what brings me around to the message for today’s post. If music makes you happy it is good. What brings happiness out in some, may not do it for all. It took me a while to come around to this notion. I admit it. The thing is, true happiness in today’s world is not only fleeting, it is rare. Too often, sadness and anger are more prevalent. So, listen to the music and enjoy.

I will close with a couple of covers and a fun memory from Family Guy.

Here is Pomplamoose from 2014. This duo is well known for their strong covers of popular songs.

In direct contrast to this style I give you Ted Tocks Covers favourite, Leo Moracchioli. I have featured Leo on several occasions. He never disappoints, giving his unique impression of classic songs with a heavy metal delivery. His talent is limitless. He plays every instrument and is extremely entertaining while doing so.

Finally, here is a memorable scene from ‘Family Guy’ where Chris Griffin wins over a primitive tribe and ‘engages them all in dance’, thus winning over the beautiful daughter of the elder.

‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ is the sound of happiness. It is way more than a guilty pleasure. It is songwriting mastery in its purest form. Some people figured that out right away, while others took the better part of thirty years.

Hopefully today’s post will bring a smile to your face.

Whatever Gets You Through the Night – A night to remember for two music legends. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #JohnLennon #EltonJohn #BobbyKeys #LosLonelyBoys

Forty-five years ago today John Lennon resided at #1 on the U.S. singles charts with ‘Whatever Gets You Through the Night’. While this milestone is in itself significant, it only begins to tell the story of how the song became the catalyst to a memorable moment in John Lennon’s life as a performer. Here is the story.

It all starts with John Lennon flipping through the channels watching late night television. According to May Pang; John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s personal assistant and Lennon’s one-time lover, the former Beatle liked to channel surf. He was watching a televangelist named Reverend Ike, who was saying;

“Let me tell you guys, it doesn’t matter, it’s whatever gets you through the night.”

Reverend Ike

According to Pang, Lennon immediately reached for the note pad he kept by the bed and jotted the line down. This passage became the beginning to the song. By the time he had written the entire set of lyrics, John Lennon had written a relatively unusual song from a structural standpoint. ‘Whatever Gets You Through the Night’ consists of what amounts to an endless chorus, marked by intelligently written passages that include interesting plays on words and phrases.

Whatever gets you through the night ‘salright, ‘salright
It’s your money or your life ‘salright, ‘salright
Don’t need a sword to cut through flowers oh no, oh no

Whatever gets you through your life ‘salright, ‘salright
Do it wrong or do it right ‘salright, ‘salright
Don’t need a watch to waste your time oh no, oh no

Hold me darlin’ come on listen to me
I won’t do you no harm
Trust me darlin’ come on listen to me, come on listen to me
Come on listen, listen

Whatever gets you to the light ‘salright, ‘salright
Out the blue or out of sight ‘salright, ‘salright
Don’t need a gun to blow your mind oh no, oh no

Hold me darlin’ come on listen to me
I won’t do you no harm
Trust me darlin’ come on listen to me, come on listen to me
Come on listen, listen

John Lennon

The lines are accented by a powerful barrage of saxophone blasts by the one and only Bobby Keys. The clever lyrics and musical composition work effectively, and the listener is greeted with a frenzy of what amounts to classic John Lennon in his post Beatles days. In addition to Bobby Keys, ‘Whatever Gets You Through the Night’ incorporates an intriguing cast of performers including Jesse Ed Davis on electric guitar, Jim Keltner on drums and Klaus Voorman on bass. Most notably, Elton John performs piano/organ as well as contributing backing vocals. This is where phase two of ‘Whatever Gets You Through the Night’ begins.

While reading about this interesting collaboration I wondered how it actually came together. At the time. Elton John was the biggest act in the world and John Lennon was in a period of personal turmoil known as the “lost weekend”. This references an eighteen month period of reckless drug abuse and separation from his wife, Yoko Ono. As is so often the case, it was a matter of circumstance. It seems John Lennon was in the studio working on tracks for his upcoming album and Elton John happened to drop by. He liked what he heard and offered his support. Here is John Lennon’s account.

“I was fiddling about one night and Elton John walked in with Tony King of Apple — you know, we’re all good friends — and the next minute Elton said, ‘Say, can I put a bit of piano on that?’ I said, ‘Sure, love it!’ He zapped in. I was amazed at his ability: I knew him, but I’d never seen him play. A fine musician, great piano player. I was really pleasantly surprised at the way he could get in on such a loose track and add to it and keep up with the rhythm changes — obviously, ’cause it doesn’t keep the same rhythm… And then he sang with me. We had a great time.”

John Lennon

When the recording was completed Elton John was very impressed with the energy, and he felt that the song would be a success. John Lennon was not so sure. He had his eye on other songs that made up what would become his Walls and Bridges album. Elton John made a bet with John Lennon that it would become #1. Lennon was skeptical, so he had no issue accepting the challenge. If ‘Whatever Gets You Through the Night’ hit #1 John Lennon would perform it on stage with Elton John and his band during an upcoming concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

 The resulting rise to #1 on the charts led to John Lennon fulfilling his promise. Here is that performance with Elton John and his backing band including Davey Johnstone on guitar, Dee Murray on bass, Nigel Olsson on drums, Ray Cooper on percussion and the Muscle Shoals Horns section. It was Thanksgiving, 1974. Elton John introduces John Lennon, promising to make the evening a “joyous occasion”.

This would be John Lennon’s last major concert appearance. He followed this presentation with ‘I Saw Her Standing There’. Listen to the introduction. This is the only time John Lennon sang this song live.

They close the set with ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’,  a song that Lennon helped Elton John cover in 1974. It was released in 1975 as a non-album single along with Philadelphia Freedom. Subsequently, ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ was added as a bonus track to Elton John’s classic album, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. John Lennon is not officially credited for his contribution to the track. He is listed as contributing guitar under the pseudonym, Winston O’Boogie. By 1974 Lennon had forgotten some of the nuances to this piece so Elton John’s guitarist Davey Johnstone had to walk him through the track.

For his part, Elton John referred to this evening as one of the highlights of his career. When you consider the scope of his 50 year career this is some pretty lofty praise, but when one considers the significance of this three song set it is not difficult to understand why. John Lennon recounted the evening with graciousness and a refreshing degree of humility

It was great. He was more nervous than I was, because he was nervous for me as well. Elton used to be in the Dick James office when The Beatles sent in their latest demos, so he had a real emotional feeling for The Beatles.

I went to see Elton at Boston and I was nervous just watching him. I was thinking ‘Thank God it isn’t me’, as he was getting dressed to go on. I went through my stage fright at Boston so by the time I got to Madison Square I had a good time, and when I walked in they were all screaming and shouting. It was like Beatlemania. I was thinking ‘What is this?’ ’cause I hadn’t heard it since The Beatles. I looked round and saw someone else playing the guitar. It brought the house down. It was déjà vu for me, not like The Beatles screaming bit, but the place was really rocking.

We’d had a rehearsal, but we weren’t that together. By the time we got to I Saw Her Standing There Elton’s piano was jumping off the floor. It was his idea to do that song. We had to do Whatever Gets You Through the Night because of a bet we had… and naturally we did Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds because I did that with him at Caribou. That’s me out of tune in the background, doing the reggae bit. I got it wrong just like I did the original on Pepper.

John Lennon

For John Lennon, ‘Whatever Gets You Through the Night’ allowed him to become the last Beatle to hit #1 in their post Beatle career. By 1974 Paul had hit #1 three times and George and Ringo, twice each.

An interesting side note…The song that ‘Whatever gets You Through the Night’ replaced at #1 was ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’ which was featured in a recent edition of Ted Tocks Covers.

For today’s cover versions I was yet again taken on a wild musical trip. Imagine walking through the streets of Nashville and seeing the one and only Bobby Keys playing with his band at the Nashville Public Library. Check this out and listen as Bobby introduces the piece. The music industry lost an absolute musical treasure when Bobby departed. This is incredible.

Here is a cool version by Los Lonely Boys. This caught my attention, not only for it’s interesting presentation in the Texas blues/rock format, but also because it was released as part of an album called Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. Once again, we get an example of how music can initiate change. When you think about it, John Lennon’s legacy was a pure example of this important fact. Today’s post is intended to perpetuate this message.

Have a great day and do whatever it takes to get you through the night. I don’t recommend televangelism though…unless it helps you write a hit single.

Going Back – A beautiful song that will make you reflect on life. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #CaroleKing #GerryGoffin #DustySpringfield #Goldie #TheByrds #FreddieMercury #NilsLofgren #BruceSpringsteen #MarianneFaithfull #PhilCollins

Personally, music has always been a vessel to draw me to the lyrics. As long as I can remember it has been that way for me. I wanted to listen to the words and try to interpret what the artist was saying. The lyrics are the beginning of the song, and if there is no meaning, to me the song suffers. Musicianship matters, but I am most often about the lyrics. That’s just me. I admit it. I know, other people feel differently. That’s the beauty of music. We all experience it in different ways. What we take from that experience is ours. It can never be taken from us.

Today’s song is ‘Going Back’ by Dusty Springfield. As far as a potential for a Ted Tocks feature it checks all the boxes. It is a beautiful song with an interesting history. It has been covered by numerous artists through the years and most importantly the lyrics speak to me. If you read through them yourself, I guarantee they will give you pause to reflect on your life too. Check it out.

I think I’m goin’ back
To the things I learned so well in my youth,
I think I’m returning to
The days when I was young enough to know the truth

Now there are no games
To only pass the time
No more coloring books,
No Christmas bells to chime
But thinking young and growing older is no sin
And I can play the game of life to win

I can recall a time,
When I wasn’t afraid to reach out to a friend
And now I think I’ve got
A lot more than a skipping rope to lift

Now there’s more to do
Than watch my sailboat glide
Then everyday can be my magic carpet ride
And I can play hide and seek with my fears,
And live my life instead of counting my years

Let everyone debate the true reality,
I’d rather see the world the way it used to be
A little bit of freedom, all we’re left
So catch me if you can
I’m goin’ back

I can recall,
I can remember

I can recall,
I can remember

I can recall,
I can remember

I need to take a quick step back before I move forward. “Going Back’ was written by the immortal Carole King and Gerry Goffin. It was initially recorded by Goldie of Goldie and the Gingerbreads. The song was produced by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. It has the distinction of being withdrawn within a week due to a disagreement over altered lyrics.

In listening to it, all I can say is the slight adjustments to the lyrics in the early part of the song were subtle and they worked within the song’s sentiment. I can see Goffin and King’s issue though. The Goldie version has no development of the theme. It just sort of ends. I don’t understand the purpose?

The Dusty Springfield version of ‘Going Back’ was recorded three months after Goldie’s version was pulled. It went on to become an international hit and it became the best known version, even though it was not released as a single in the United States.

Before I move on to some of the many other cover versions, I feel it is important to play Carole King’s rendition because, to no one’s surprise she does a fabulous job.

This version was released in 1970 on her album, Writer. Ten years later it was released on a compilation album called Pearls: Songs of Goffin and King.

It was The Byrds who brought ‘Going Back’ to my attention many years ago. It was a gift from my friend Scott. The lyrics spoke to me then. They are even more relevant today. Scott turned 50 years old a couple of days ago, so this post is for him. The interesting thing about The Byrds version that was released almost exactly 52 years ago, is it pretty much broke up the original formation of the band and it served to define their future sound. Singer and rhythm guitarist, David Crosby hated ‘Going Back’. He thought it was “lightweight fluff”. Crosby was never a fan of the Goffin/King songwriting team or the songwriting factory known as the Brill Building. To top it all off Crosby had a song called ‘Triad’ that was in direct competition with ‘Going Back’ for placement on the upcoming album, The Notorious Byrd Brothers. ‘Going Back’ was a sentimental song about life; a philosophical reflection. ‘Triad’ was about defending the merits of a threesome. Which song do you think won out? Ultimately, David Crosby was fired from The Byrds and moved on to become a part of Crosby, Stills and Nash (sometimes Young). They recorded ‘Triad’. Here is The Byrds version of ‘Going Back’. Definitely my favourite. The instrumentation is fantastic. Roger McGuinn’s guitar sound is iconic and the harmonies are so distinct. This gave way to the country rock sound that The Byrds were instrumental in defining. Their influence can still be felt today.

Now we get into some really interesting cover versions.

This is really special. Have you ever heard of Larry Lurex?

You may recognize this incredible voice. Larry Lurex is a pseudonym for an artist who at the time of this release in 1973 was on the edge of greatness with a new band he was developing. You may have heard of them…Queen. Larry is none other than FREDDIE ‘Freakin’ MERCURY. What a perfect song for him. He is accompanied by Brian May on guitar and Roger Taylor on drums. Listening to him sing this song brings tears to my eyes. I guarantee you won’t be able to listen to it only once.

But wait…there is more.

Nils Lofgren recorded ‘Going Back’ on his solo album in 1975 and it has remained a standard for him in his live performances ever since. Nils has strong connections to two of my favourite artists; Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen. He is a gem. This upbeat piano version is awesome.

Speaking of Bruce Springsteen…Here is a version by The Boss from his four night stint at The Roxy in Los Angeles in 1975. This is yet another glimpse at emerging greatness. Wow! This was in the early days of the Born to Run tour. Carole King was actually in the audience. Bruce Springsteen has not played this song live since this recording. Again, there are no superlatives to describe how good this version is, nor what a special musical moment we are fortunate enough to be sharing.

Two more versions and then I will start looking forward rather than ‘Going Back’. I just can’t stop.

Here is Marianne Faithful. This is a heartfelt rendition of a beautiful song. Her reflection on better times harkens back to her ups and downs with the Rolling Stones, and her torrid love affair with Mick Jagger. She barely survived. This recording is from her album called Horses and High Heels in 2011.

Finally, for people in my age group another artist who defines our generation is Phil Collins. I have always been a much bigger fan of Phil Collins as a member of Genesis, but he does do a great job on ‘Going Back’. This was recorded in 2010.

Another version that captures the sentiment.

Sometimes with Ted Tocks Covers I just need to let the music do the talking. This is one of those times.

Have a great day.

Think young and grow old…Play the game of life to win.

Here are some other Ted Tocks Covers featuring Carole King and Gerry Goffin:

‘The Locomotion’

‘You’ve Got a Friend’

‘Saving All My Love for You’

‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’

‘Don’t Bring Me Down’

You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – A classic rock staple from a Canadian music icon. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #RandyBachman #BachmanTurnerOverdrive #BurtonCummings #FiguresonaBeach #SmashyandNicey

When it came to producing today’s feature song, Randy Bachman drew from every source of inspiration imaginable. By the time the rough track for ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’ was recorded Bachman needed to be convinced to release it on Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s 1974 album Not Fragile. It was only when it became an FM radio hit that the legendary Canadian music icon relented to release it as a single. Forty-five years later, what began as a family joke became one of the most lucrative songs of his illustrious career. Perhaps the best thing about ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’ is the multi-phased story of its ascent. The fact one of music’s finest storytellers is the man who made it happen makes it the perfect subject for a Ted Tocks Covers feature.

It all began while Randy Bachman was working on material for Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s third album. Initially, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’ was an instrumental inspired by a riff he had modified from a Dave Mason song called ‘Only You Know and I Know’.

“It was basically just an instrumental and I was fooling around… I wrote the lyrics, out of the blue, and stuttered them through. The band typically used the song as a “work track” in the studio to get the amplifiers and microphones set properly.”

Randy Bachman

As Randy Bachman became more familiar with the melody, he began to add lyrics to it in a very unstructured manner. The story that evolved was about a man who meets a “devil woman, who takes his heart away.” The chorus provides the hook. When he offers his thanks, she looks at him with her big brown eyes and says:

“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. B-, b-, b-, baby, you just ain’t seen na, na, nothin yet. Here’s somethin’ that you’re never gonna forget. B-, b-, b-, baby, you just ain’t seen na, na, nothin yet.”

Randy Bachman

Bachman’s brother Gary had a stutter, so in order to take a light hearted dig at his sibling he borrowed from Roger Daltrey’s delivery in ‘My Generation’. They took the demo and shared it with Gary, jokingly telling him that their vocal tribute to him was going to be on their next album. Their brother was mildly mortified. It was all just a bunch of light-hearted fun between brothers and friends. The fact that the chorus also borrowed musically from The Who’s ‘Baba O’Riley’, and he threw in a series of Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and Everly Brothers’ vocal impersonations didn’t matter. It wasn’t going to be released anyway. Right?

 Well. when he and his BTO bandmates got together with Charlie Fach of Mercury Records to assess the material for the album they got the dreaded “where is the single” question. The group was briefly stymied until they recalled the ‘work track’. Randy Bachman was reluctant.

“We have this one song, but it’s a joke. I’m laughing at the end. I sang it on the first take. It’s sharp, it’s flat, I’m stuttering to do this thing for my brother.”

Randy Bachman

Despite Bachman’s reservations, Fach asked to hear the song and it met with immediate approval.

“That’s the track. It’s got a brightness to it. It kind of floats a foot higher than the other songs when you listen to it.”

Charlie Fach

Even as the song was being pushed down the conveyer, Randy Bachman was not convinced. He agreed, but he wanted to re-record the vocals because he wasn’t sure about the stutter. This is where the story goes from the ridiculous to the sublime…Despite efforts to record the vocal without the stutter, all attempts failed. In his own words, Bachman claims it sounded like a Frank Sinatra song with power chords. Without the stutter it was not unique. My writing the account of this process does it no justice. Listen to Randy Bachman tell the story.

I wonder if Lindsey Buckingham knows what a contribution he made to this recording? Listening to Randy Bachman tell these stories is simply captivating. His CBC Radio show Vinyl Tap is a major inspiration for the whole idea of Ted Tocks Covers. The man is a treasure trove of music history.

To summarize, what began as a practical joke on his brother Gary turned into gold, and miraculously it cured the stutter. No joke.

“I thought it was embarrassing, but it went to No.1 in the States and 22 other countries. I was dumbfounded. Particularly because as soon it became a hit my brother stopped stammering.”

Randy Bachman

https://www.stutteringhelp.org/btos-song-unique

Gary Bachman went on to become a very successful realtor in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

For Bachman-Turner Overdrive ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’ surpassed ‘Takin’ Care of Business’ as the band’s signature song. It became the second #1 song penned by Randy Bachman. The other was The Guess Who classic from 1970, ‘American Woman’. Close to home, in Canada ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’ won a 1976 Juno Award for Best Selling Single.

Getting back to the Randy Bachman interview with Mark Steyn, I was intrigued to listen to Randy Bachman’s take on cover songs. He tells the story of his former Guess Who bandmate, Burton Cummings doing a jazz cover of ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’ and Lenny Kravitz doing ‘American Woman’ and how their covers transformed the songs. In his estimation the Lenny Kravitz cover elevated him in the eyes of his daughter and her friends. Lenny Kravitz covered his song so he must be cool. Here is Burton Cummings version of ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’.

“I met a gentle woman”

Burton Cummings

‘Gentle’ just works better with this interpretation. Wow!

Here is a dance version by Figures on a Beach from 1989.

Due to its international popularity ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’ has been recorded in many different languages and in numerous countries.

It has even spawned an acronym…YASNY.

“I was on a plane and the guy next to me was calling his girlfriend, and he kept on saying: ‘YASNY.’ I asked him what that meant, and he goes: ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet, man. Like that song. So, I use that phrase myself now. Every time a cheque comes in. It could be from Finland or Bavaria or some hockey commercial, or a car advert, or F1 in England… Great!”

Randy Bachman

So, Randy Bachman is still laughing all the way to the bank but the beauty of this Canadian music treasure is he remembers every player who played a part in its success with typical Canadian humility, and a sense of humour. Speaking of sense of humour; Prince Harry told Randy Bachman recently that ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’ was his favourite song growing up because of the British comedy duo Smashy and Nicey. Here is one example of one of their skits.

Through 45 years ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’ has literally seen it all but based on the many ways the song has been applied to pop culture we truly may have only scratched the surface of its universal appeal.

Change – The evolution of #TedTocksCovers continues. #MusicisLife #BlindMelon #ShannonHoon #BetweentheBuriedandMe

“So, I want to write my words on the face of today
And then they’ll paint it.”

Blind Melon

Today is a tough one. Upon reflection, I need to make a change.

When I began writing Ted Tocks Covers on January 1, 2019 (Cover Your Face at the time) my goal was to post an original song and a cover version. This exercise was intended to be an opportunity to share my love of music and draw attention to how music inspires across generations and genres. I managed to do this for over 670 days straight. If you go back to my earliest posts (they are all searchable on the blogsite: https://wordpress.com/stats/day/tedtockscovers.wordpress.com), you will notice a few things that stand out. First, they are very straight forward. They lack detail. I kept the words to minimum and focused more on the original version and one cover. That’s right…one cover. As the series evolved and I become more immersed in the project I realized the magnitude of the project. There was way more to these songs that I chose to feature, and I needed to share. It became a personal mission and it grew. As I wrote each day, I literally went down a rabbit hole of music history and I struggled to find places to stop. Posts that were initially intended to be 500 to 750 words at most, on occasion turned into 2000 to 3000 word epic documents of exploration. In some cases, books could be written. In many cases, books have been written. In my most verbose features I could have written a book. Not only that, so many of the songs I feature have more than one cover. Numerous songs I have featured have countless great covers. Each day that I wrote and considered cover versions I became lost in not only the story behind the songs, but the breadth of artists who chose to honour the original with their own interpretation. This speaks to both the purpose of my initial undertaking and the dilemma I face. It takes a lot of time to do this and post effectively on a daily basis. Sometimes, I feel like a do a good job. Other times I feel as though I leave a little too much on the table and regret not featuring certain songs adequately.

To alleviate this concern, I have a plan. Hopefully, you are still reading.

I am going to modify the presentation slightly. Ted Tocks Covers will be reduced to once (or twice) a week; presented on weekends. The features will be slightly longer and in a perfect world they will be more comprehensive.

Having said this, there are two more things that I hope to accomplish. Since the time I began writing I have noticed that the posts that tend to receive the most readership are the ones that include personal stories. I will do my best to tie those in. On a daily basis this was difficult. On a weekly’ish basis, this may be easier to accomplish. One other thing I will try to do is IF a big music related story breaks during the week I will do my best to reflect that in occasional extra versions of Ted Tocks Covers. For example, when the music world lost Ric Ocasek of The Cars recently, that was a big deal for my generation. The Cars were huge in the ‘80s. Ocasek’s passing marked the end of an era and his music took many people back to the soundtrack of their high school days. This type of occurrence is worthy of a special post and by reducing my blog I will have more flexibility to write in the moment.

It should also be noted that currently the series of daily posts are written in a flurry of activity each weekend. Between Friday night and Sunday night I manage to whip off seven articles of varying length and interpretive depth. I then do my best to edit them effectively. Sometimes I am so bleary eyed I miss obvious mistakes and chastise myself for the lack of quality control. Once edited, I schedule them on my blog page for posting and on a daily basis once the blog goes live, I share it on Facebook (it is set to go  to my Twitter page automatically). Here is what I am hoping could also happen. Since I am reducing my output, I am hoping that you can like my blog page:

https://wordpress.com/stats/day/tedtockscovers.wordpress.com

By doing this, the blog will also be delivered to your email in box whenever it goes live, and you can read it at your leisure rather than needing to seek it out on social media.

I am hoping that this change marks a moderate improvement in the presentation of Ted Tocks Covers.

Thanks for reading and for your support over 22 months of posts. It means a lot to me. When I started, Ted Tocks was a project intended to be therapeutic. It took my mind off a lot of things I was dealing with personally. The fact that so many of you take the time to read it (some of you have even made it a daily routine) gives me a true sense of happiness and it confirms my sentiment that #MusicisLife.

Hopefully we can grow together.

Fittingly, today’s song is ‘Change’ by Blind Melon. It happens to be one of my favourite songs because of the message that Blind Melon presents through their words and music. I have turned to these lyrics frequently over the past 25 years.

I don’t feel the suns comin’ out today
It’s staying in, it’s gonna find another way
As I sit here in this misery
I don’t think I’ll ever no ??
See the sun from here

And oh as I fade away
They’ll all look at me and say, and they’ll say
Hey look at him, I’ll never live that way
And that’s okay
They’re just afraid to change

When you feel your life ain’t worth living
You’ve got to stand up
And take a look around and you look way up to the sky
Yeah, and when your deepest thoughts are broken
Keep on dreaming boy, ’cause when you stop dreamin’ it’s time to die

And as we all play parts of tomorrow
Some ways will work and other ways we’ll play
But I know we all can’t stay here forever
So I want to write my words on the face of today
And then they’ll paint it

And oh as I fade away
They’ll all look at me and they’ll say
Hey look at him and where he is these days
When life is hard, you have to change
When life is hard, you have to change

Blind Melon

Sadly, for Shannon Hoon, the singer of Blind Melon the weight of this message was too much of a challenge to live up to as he struggled with drug addiction and emotional issues. He died of a cocaine overdose on October 21, 1995 at the age of 28. Yet another artist, gone too soon, wasting not only his own talent but the talents of a really cool band. To some, Blind Melon is considered to be a one hit wonder, but I beg to differ. Their self-titled debut album is phenomenal from cover to cover, and their follow up; Soup is really good too. It didn’t do as well as the debut because the record execs (to quote Tom Petty) ‘didn’t hear a single’ that could rival the dynamic appeal of ‘No Rain’. This was short sighted because this act should never have been seen as a one act play. Everything they did was good. Blind Melon is still out there performing and recording with singer Travis Warren. They are aiming to release a new album in 2020.

Before I move on to today’s cover version, give a listen to this acoustic version of ‘Change’. It is by far my favourite version of the song.

‘Change’ made its strongest impression on me when Blind Melon performed it on Late Night with David Letterman. Consider a time before the internet. News of Kurt Cobain’s death had not been officially released. Blind Melon was scheduled to perform that evening and the rumours had been leaking. Check out this photo of Shannon Hoon. When fans saw him on stage with the question mark on his forehead they knew the rumours were true. As the partially improvised version of the song concludes he erases all doubt. His good friend was dead.

Blind Melon played David Letterman the night Kurt Cobain’s body was discovered. Shannon Hoon performed with a ❓ on his forehead pic.twitter.com/fgiw4DTTrr

— Sir Gregory (@BlindNewSpeak) December 29, 2021

Enjoy this live version of ‘Change from the Jon Stewart Show.

For today’s cover version here is an outstanding version by Between the Buried and Me. It starts slow but wait for the harmonies to start and then it really builds after the first chorus. A fantastic cover.

This version means a lot to me because it speaks to the ability for people to bond through music. My son Sebastian has introduced me to a lot of bands since he began his musical journey. When he was about 12 and discovering up and coming bands within his peer group, he brought home a CD by this band and it caught my ear. I distinctly remember listening to Between the Buried and Me with him on the computer while we watched a hockey game. I had no idea they recorded this song until I began my search for a good cover version to compliment today’s post. It just shows how good music has a way of coming back around.

Music is the soundtrack of your life.

#MusicisLife

Thanks for reading.