Lust for Life – Today’s classic song, the rhythm that inspired it, the songs that it inspired and a couple of well done covers. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #IggyPop #DavidBowie #TheSupremes #MarthaandtheVandellas #Jet #MotleyCrue #TomJones #ThePretenders

Happy 72^nd birthday to the one and only James Osterberg!

Silence!

Okay…Happy birthday to the one and only Iggy Pop.

Today we will feature one of Iggy Pop’s best known songs. Everybody loves ‘Lust for Life’. Where there is a great song, there is a great story and today is no exception.

When you blend the songwriting talents of Iggy Pop and the one and only David Bowie (yes, the six degrees of David Bowie prove true again) you get music magic and a raw energy that sets a standard for rock and roll. Now is a good time to mention that the original music for ‘Lust for Life’ was written on a ukulele. Iggy Pop wrote the words while Bowie created the riff. This was the beginning. The drum beat that has become synonymous with ‘Lust for Life’ was created by Hunt Sales. The rhythm was based on an Armed Forces call signal that Iggy Pop heard while waiting to watch an episode of Starsky and Hutch. It is that distinctive drum pattern that drives the energetic song.

It must be noted that for Hunt Sales’ part in the song he is clear that he borrowed from some predecessors himself. He points to The Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas.

Check out the pattern of these songs and then I will show you a song that came after ‘Lust for Life’ that cited Hunt Sales’ rhythm as an influence. I share this as an opportunity to illustrate that ‘the beat goes on’.

Here is ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’.

Note the similar beat in ‘I’m Ready for Love’.

Then we move on to post 1977 when artists and drummers who were inspired by ‘Lust for Life’ created their own take. One of the best examples is ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet.

The energy in this song rivals Iggy Pop but the tie always goes to the original.

Speaking of originals and cover versions that reminds me of the purpose of this blog. ‘Lust for Life’ has left an indelible mark on pop culture and as an extension it has been connected to blatant commercialism. There is a commercial for a cruise company. No idea which one. Doesn’t matter. The point is, the song grabs people. The sign of a great song. The gift of ‘Lust for Life’ is in its spirit and inspiration. As a result, there have been several very good cover versions.

Here is Motley Crue with a solid drum track from Tommy Lee. Not a fan, but tis is good.

In the world of unlikely collaborations here is Tom Jones working with The Pretenders on a cover version of ‘Lust for Life’. It appeared on his 1999 album Reload that features a series of excellent duets with prominent acts. This is fantastic. Tom Jones is another artist that I have not paid nearly enough attention to, but his versatility is astounding. This is only rivalled by the sheer reach of his six decade career. A Ted Tocks tease here, but I will draw from this production again. Maybe on Tom Jones’ birthday. Gold mine!

Happy Easter! Appreciate every moment and make your lust for life apparent to everyone around you.

Brass in Pocket – Today’s classic song and a cover from a once up and coming British band. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #ThePretenders #Suede

The fact that ‘Brass in Pocket’ by The Pretenders was released almost 40 years ago is startling to me. No matter what we do, we cannot stop time, or slow it down. It was released in late November of 1979 and it spent a couple of weeks at #1 on the UK Singles chart, in January of 1980. In Britain ‘Brass in Pocket’ holds the distinction of being the first #1 single of the 1980s decade. From a personal standpoint, when I hear this song I think of grade 8 at McKenzie Smith Middle School in Acton.

‘Brass in Pocket’ was written by Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott. Hynde got the idea for the song while hanging out with the Pretenders entourage after a show in the late ‘70s. She overheard a conversation about somebody picking up their dry cleaning and one of the participants inquired as to whether there was any “brass in pocket”. This is a Northern England slang for money. Another version of the inspiration implies that while The Pretenders were opening for The Strangeways, they were sharing space backstage and a pair of pants that were hanging over a piece of furniture was in the way. A band member asked whose they were and another remarked “I will take them if there is any brass in pocket.” Whatever the source, Chrissie Hynde, who was from Ohio was intrigued by the expression and filed it away for future use.

Typically, Chrissie Hynde was the main songwriter for The Pretenders but for ‘Brass in Pocket’ she worked closely with Honeyman-Scott. As you read through the lyrics several interesting English slang terms are noted which adds to the song’s intrigue. Here are a few examples:

“Got bottle”

This speaks to the confidence and lessening of inhibitions as the result of having a few drinks.

“Got rhythm I can’t miss a beat
Got new skank it’s so reet.”

Skank is a slang term for a special swagger or moving your body side to side.

Reet speaks of righteousness or exuding confidence.

The above passage is an interesting way to note that Chrissie Hynde had been living in the U.K. since 1973 working as a waitress and trying her hand at being a musician. It is clear that the British vernacular embedded itself in her way of life. As an interesting aside, Hynde went to Kent State in 1970 and the boyfriend of one of her friends was one of the victims.

Overall ‘Brass in Pocket’ speaks to the overall ‘dance’ that takes place between a couple as they explore the possibility of getting together. Being delivered by Chrissie Hynde as it is in this song speaks more so to the idea of female confidence and a sense of boldness, but it is not necessarily meant to be gender specific. It has certainly become an anthem of female empowerment through the years. No matter what the interpretation, the song became what it was, based on Chrissie Hynde’s delivery and it clearly set The Pretenders on their way as a strong act for the decade. Rolling Stone critic J.D. Considine described the song as “sassy” and the music behind the piece added a deliberate bounce to the presentation. Author Simon Reynolds called it “pure sass and representative of a feline narcissism.” The narcissist tag was a reference to the repeated line “I’m special”. Personally, I think that is a little over the top but it is clear that Chrissie Hynde served notice she was a rising star on the music scene and as noted from my personal experience ‘Brass in Pocket and The Pretenders were a constant presence for several years in the ‘80s and Chrissie Hynde was a driving force. She is right up there among the best female vocalists ever. She exudes confidence. I have always likened her to a female Tom Petty. Talk amongst yourselves, but please note that I mean this as the highest form of compliment.

For today’s cover version I reach out to British band Suede, who emerged in the late ‘80s and by 1992 they were considered ‘the Best New Band in Britain’. They recorded ‘Brass in Pocket’ for a compilation album called Ruby Trax – The NME’s Roaring Forty. The NME is the New Musical Express and for their 40^th anniversary they produced the album featuring 40 cover versions of popular songs in Britain over the 40 years they had been publishing. Glancing through the track list of this series of offerings, it seems like an intriguing package and in a pinch, it could present 39 more days of Ted Tocks Covers. For today here is ‘Brass in Pocket’ by Suede.

Creep

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k3_RU30tEIE

Today we feature another song that the artist quickly grew tired of performing. As a result of this they have moved it in and out of their set list since its release in 1992.

‘Creep’ was released as Radiohead’s first single in advance of their first album release ‘Pablo Honey’ in 1993, to a rather indifferent response. It was rereleased later in 1993 and became a worldwide hit. There you go. It’s that easy. If at first you don’t succeed; try, try again.

The origin of ‘Creep’ is interesting in a ‘creepy’ sort of way. Singer Thom Yorke had become infatuated with a girl that he had seen on the campus of Exeter University in the late ’80s. Yorke never summoned the courage to speak to her. Ironically she would show up at an early Radiohead show. Nothing ever came of the one way attraction.

‘Creep’ was recorded in one take as an in studio throw away. The producers Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie did not understand the origin of the song and thought they had been playing a cover of someone else’s song. When the song was completed the emotion resonated and the studio erupted in applause. After assuring the producers it was an original they set about releasing it as an advance single. The attraction to the song and the likely reason for it’s popularity is held within the obsessive lyrics that culminate in a ‘self lacerating rage’ as the song builds. The chorus became a bit of a stumbling block though. The radio version had to be adjusted from “so fucking special” to “so very special”. This created some unrest within the band and among their peers because there was a suggestion that they were selling out.

Three brief but interesting points surrounding ‘Creep’:

In the middle part of the song Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood plays a solo that their other guitarist Ed O’Brien, pointed out was similar to The Hollies ‘(All I Need Is) The Air That I Breathe’. Yorke then, wrote a new middle stanza that reflected The Hollies song. Hollies songwriters Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood sued and received co-writing credits and a percentage of the song’s royalties. All ended amicably. Earlier this year artist Lana Del Rey came under fire from Radiohead over song similarities between ‘Creep’ and her song ‘Get Free’. There has been no official lawsuit filed and the conversation goes back and forth between lawyers.

When asked about the song in 1993, singer Thom Yorke said the song was about an inebriated man who was trying to get the attention of a woman but in the end he lacked the self confidence to approach her. He admitted it was moderately autobiographical. By saying “I have a real problem being a being a man in the ’90s. Any man with any sensitivity or conscience toward the opposite sex would have a problem. To actually assert yourself in a masculine way…”

As stated in the original paragraph the song has enjoyed a relative love/hate relationship between the artists and their fans. By 1997 they were done with it telling a Montreal audience to “Fuck off, we’re tired of it” and then emphasizing the point by telling the crowd that they were “anally retarded” as they persisted. They reintroduced it in 2001 and it moved in out of their set list through 2009 when it was set aside yet again until being reintroduced in 2016. Yorke summarized the band’s decision this way.

“It’s nice to play for the right reasons.” People like it and want to hear it. We do err towards not playing it because we don’t want it to feel like show business. But we started throwing it in last year…It can be cool sometimes, but other times I want to stop halfway and be like, ‘N’ah! This isn’t happening’.”

It should always be the artists prerogative.

The version I posted is relatively recent and it was recorded shortly after his wife of 18 years passed away from cancer. His emotional rendition combined with the audience singing along makes for a magical live moment.

Several artists have covered ‘Creep’ but in a delayed tribute to yesterday’s post I am going to go with Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders who recorded the song in 1995. She does an amazing song with the delivery and it is all enhanced by a haunting string section. A masterful job.