Song Of the Day: April 9, 2005
The Marbles were there at the very beginning; this was the third Ork records 45 following Television's "Little Johnny Jewel" and Richard Hell's "Another World." During the label's brief existence, Terry Ork released a handful of classic punk/power pop/new wave discs. A lot of the geeky particulars are captured here. The Marbles 45 is one of the lesser known releases on the label; nonetheless it's a wonderful record, definitely power pop but recorded before the sound had been codified by the skinny tie-brigades. Upon hearing it, John Kass fired off an e-mail that pointed out that it sounds "just like the Shins." The Marbles had at least one other single on Jimboco that we don't like nearly as much. 
Song Of the Day: April 8, 2005
Lane Steinberg is one of my favorite pop geniuses. He was in the Wind, whose Where It's At With the Wind is THE great lost LP of the early 80s; he also released an amazing solo album under the name Noel Coward's Ghost. He is currently in a duo called Tan Sleeve, who have generated some notoriety for the song " Condoleeza Will Lead Us" from the forthcoming CD American Blood. Wall of Orchids was yet another of Lane's disguises. This 45 was the only release on a very short-lived offshoot of the much-loved Bus Stop Label called Pop Look and Listen Records. (Anybody know the reference?) Although "Come Back To Me" is the B-side, it seems to me the stronger, with a beautiful Brian Wilson melody and one of the best vocal performances of Mr. Steinberg's career. There is also a more recent CD EP that contains this track plus four more very nice numbers as well. Highly recommended. 
Song Of the Day: April 7, 2005
This very British single by this very British band concerns a very British crimefighter, and as such, the cultural references are a bit lost on me, but still, I really like the song. The Whaam! label was founded by Dan Treacy of the Television Personalities and Ed Ball of the Times. Whaam! had a number of great records, perhaps the best of which was the TVPs "Three Wishes" 45, and yes, it's different from the LP version. 
Song Of the Day: April 6, 2005
Sorry about the blip yesterday. I'll try to see that it doesn't happen again. The guys and I have recently spent some time revisiting our favorite 80s garage revival discs. I actually liked a lot of that stuff (including all of the oft-maligned stuff on Voxx), and it introduced me to a lot of the 60s classiscs that hadn't been unearthed on the more visible compilations like Nuggets and Pebbles. Sweden had a strangely large number of good 60s-influenced bands during this period: The Stomachmouths, The Nomads, the Shoutless, the Creeps, and many others. Shamrock J. Cat says this is one of the best, and despite never having actually been in a garage to my knowledge, he is quite an authority. 
Song Of the Day: April 5, 2005
I have to make this quick today, as family obligations are coming up in about 30 minutes. Here for your amusement more than your pleasure, is a song by my old country band with Kory Willis, Paul Schmidt, and Guy Stephens. It's been featured on NPR's "Car Talk" a couple of times.
Song Of the Day: April 4, 2005
I hated grunge so much... stupid shirtless sweaty GUYS making ugly music with no pop sensibility and bludgeoning power chords in a wall of noise that precluded any interesting rhythmic or harmonic ideas. The whole business had more in common with Uriah Heep than punk rock. When I make a compilation of all my favorite records of the early 90s, I'm going to call it The Opposite of Grunge. Jason Reynolds' Summershine label could contribute some A-list material; this might be the single most cavity-inducing track that he released. The Carousel was the duo of Elizabeth Price and Gregory Webster, the latter of the Razorcuts. Amelia Fletcher of Talulah Gosh and Heavenly helped out. All of the Carousel recordings were eventually rounded up for a CD on Vinyl Japan. Of course, later I found out that I was totally wrong about grunge. Nevermind is better than any Grand Funk Railroad album, if not nearly as good as The James Gang Rides Again. 
Song Of the Day: April 3, 2005
I was waiting until it got really nice outside to break this one out. This unassuming Australian band left two singles and two 12" EPs as proof of their existence, and for some reason they seem uncommonly hard to track down. Not the loud guitar pop of the Someloves or Hoodoo Gurus here, but an approach more like the Go-Betweens or Apartments. 
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