My “Shocking” Song Revelations

Dave from A Sound Day hosts a fun recurring feature titled Turntable Talk, for which he asks fellow bloggers to share their thoughts on a given topic. I was happy when he recently invited me back to contribute. This time, it was a challenging topic he called “shock rock.”

In his own words: This time around, we’re calling it “Shock Rock.” But wait, there’s a twist – it’s not about Marilyn Manson and his contemporaries…unless our writers want it to be. Rather, it’s more about what some would call “guilty pleasures.” Songs or records that you like that would “shock” most people. Ones that go against the grain of most of what you listen to. I once asked a well-known radio DJ who loved new music, alternative and artsy rock if he had a musical guilty pleasure and he responded that he’d always liked “Moonlight feels Right” by Starbuck… a ’70s piece of laid back yacht rock with a xylophone solo! (Hey, we like it too!) Not his usual fare, but a song that he loves regardless. Maybe the heavy metal types have a soft spot for a bit of late night opera. Or an “all-60s rock” person loves Bruno Mars too. You get the idea.

I really had to think hard about the topic and what I would say that would be reasonably surprising or shocking. Following is what I submitted:

Thanks, Dave, for inviting me back to share my thoughts for another round of “Turntable Talk” – given the topic, hopefully, this won’t be the last time!😊

Since I feel I’ve been pretty transparent about my music taste on my blog and in comments, I really needed to figure out how to tackle this topic. Yes, I’m mostly a ‘60s and ‘70s guy who likes blues, British invasion, classic rock and soul. But on more than one occasion, I’ve also revealed preferences that clearly fall outside my core wheelhouse, which probably have surprised some readers.

For example, I’ve acknowledged I dig a good number of songs by Bon Jovi and Journey, bands I know are not particularly popular among some of my fellow bloggers. Additionally, I’ve admitted I like some disco, a genre that can make many rock fans break out in hives. I’ve also expressed positive sentiments about certain electronic/new age music artists like Jean-Michel Jarre and Klaus Schulze – something you could argue contradicts my general mantra that “good music” should be played with “real” instruments instead of synthesizers.

Given the above, I asked myself the question what I could say that might surprise readers who know my music taste based on my blog. At first, I had contemplated writing about ELO’s 1979 studio album Discovery, which has a bunch of disco/dance-oriented tunes I like. I also considered doing a post on Klaus Schulze’s Timewind, his fifth album from 1975. But based on what I noted at the outset of this post, I don’t think any of these choices would have been particularly revealing.

In the end, I decided to highlight three songs I like by artists who may surprise you. Warning: Some of you may be shocked!

Let’s start with something gentler. In February 1982, British trio Imagination released what would become their biggest hit: Just an Illusion. While it’s not disco, it’s definitely dance music. Wikipedia characterizes the album In the Heat of the Night, on which the tune appeared, as post-disco, funk and soul. And, nope, it’s not an illusion, I think this is a pretty groovy and catchy tune. Are you still with me?

Moving on to my next pick. How many of you would have thought I dig a tune by two French electronic music dudes who performed in robot outfits and concealed their faces with helmets? Yes, it’s Daft Punk, baby! And I’m talking about a song that became an international sensation in 2013. Not only did it top the charts in France, but it also hit no. 1 in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland and the UK. In Sweden and the U.S., it peaked at no. 2. Aptly, it was titled Get Lucky and featured Pharrell Williams on vocals and Nile Rodgers on guitar. Like Just an Illusion, it’s really the groove that won me over. The latter is due to Rodgers’ seductive funky guitar sound. I also like Pharrell’s singing.

Okay, are you ready for one more shocker? Ready or not, here it comes, the one you may find a real stinker that may push you over the edge: Waiting For a Star to Fall, a top 10 hit in the U.S. (no. 5) and the UK (no. 9) in 1988 by Boy Meets Girl. There’s definitely more than one reason why I shouldn’t be fond of this song, including the outfit’s corny name and the lyrics. Waiting for a star to fall/And carry your heart into my arms/That’s where you belong/In my arms, baby, yeah…Not exactly Shakespeare. And yet I can’t deny I find this song pretty catchy. In fact, it’s been stuck in my brain since I remembered it when reflecting on the topic.

BTW, behind Boy Meets Girl are vocalists and songwriters George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam who at the time Waiting For a Star to Fall came out were a married couple. Now isn’t that sweet? But wait, there’s more. They also wrote two no. 1 hits for Whitney Houston: How Will I Know (1985) and I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) (1987).

So, what’s the main takeaway to all of this? I guess there are two possible answers. Number one: I finally proved my music taste is terrible after all! Number two: Music doesn’t always make sense. Sometimes you like songs, even though they contradict your taste. I would argue that’s a good thing!

– END –

There you have it, my darkest music secrets, the songs I secretly sing in the shower! 🙂

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube

The Sunday Six

A Sunday morning (at least in my neck of the woods in lovely central New Jersey, U.S.A.) means another Sunday Six is in store. I’m also introducing a new technical feature. Alternatively, you could call it catching up with 21st century technology: Embedded Spotify playlists. Admittedly, I shamefully stole the idea from fellow bloggers like Music Enthusiast, Aphoristic Album Reviews and Eclectic Music Lover, who have been using embedded Spotify playlists forever. With that being said, let’s get to the six random tunes I picked for this installment. Hope you enjoy – and look for the paylist at the end!

Tangerine Dream/Para Guy

I’d like to kick it off with some electronic music, a genre that with a few exceptions like Jean-Michel Jarre and Klaus Schulze I’ve pretty much ignored in the past. That being said, I’ve always liked spacy music. That’s part of the reason Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were and The Dark Side of the Moon are among my all-time favorite albums. This brings me to electronic music pioneers Tangerine Dream, founded by Edgar Froese in 1967 in Berlin, Germany. According to their website, the group’s fifth studio album Phaedra from February 1974 became a milestone in electronic music and one of more than 100 studio albums they have released over the past 50-plus years. Para Guy is a from Tangerine Dream’s most recent EP Probe 6-8 that appeared a few weeks ago on November 26. The track is credited to band leader Thorsten Quaeschning, co-members Hoshiko Yamane and Paul Frick, as well as Froese who passed away in January 2015. Another current member of Tangerine Dream’s current line-up, which has been in place since Froese’s death, is Ulrich Schnauss.

Bob Dylan/Ballad of a Thin Man

If you asked me about my favorite Bob Dylan record, I’d pick Highway 61 Revisited, his sixth studio album from August 1965. Admittedly, the big caveat is my knowledge of Mr. Zimmerman’s catalog continues to have significant gaps. Regardless, I can’t imagine Dylan connoisseurs would argue over an album packed with gems, such as Like a Rolling Stone, Tombstone Blues, Desolation Row and Ballad of a Thin Man. According to Songfacts, While speculation remains rampant as to who “Mr. Jones” is and what exactly this song is supposed to mean, there is no definitive answer at this time. Shockingly, Dylan hasn’t hepled to clarify things. Asked about Mr. Jones at a press conference in 1965, he reportedly said, “I’m not going to tell you his first name. I’d get sued.” When prompted what the man does for a living, Zimmi answered, “He’s a pinboy. He also wears suspenders.” Frankly, I don’t really care much about any deeper meaning here, I just love everything about this tune: Dylan’s cynically sounding voice; the music, especially the keyboard; and the song’s dark feel!

Blind Melon/No Rain

Next let’s turn to the ’90s and a tune I’ve always found cool: No Rain by Blind Melon. The song is from the American rock band’s eponymous debut album that appeared in September 1992. It became their breakthrough single and biggest hit, climbing to no. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100; topping the charts in Canada; reaching no. 8 and no. 15 in Australia and New Zealand, respectively; and charting in various European countries. The tune is credited to all members of the band at the time: Shannon Hoon (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion), Rogers Stevens (lead guitar), Christopher Thorn (rhythm guitar), Brad Smith (bass, backing vocals) and Glen Graham (drums), as well as producer Rick Parashar. Blind Mellon are still around, though they were inactive between 1999 and 2006 and 2008 and 2010. I guess in part this explains their modest catalog, which to date only includes three studio albums, a live record and a few compilations. That said, Blind Mellon have released four singles since 2019. The band’s current members include Stevens, Thorn and Graham, along with Travis Warren (lead vocals, acoustic guitar) and Nathan Towne (bass, backing vocals).

Pete Townshend/Give Blood

While the massive and monotonous drums on Face the Face, the lead single off Pete Townshend’s White City: A Novel, took a few listens before I found them cool, I immediately dug his fourth solo album when it came out in November 1985. I still do and wrote about it here back in February. Give Blood is the album’s excellent opener and also became its second single. Asked about the tune, following is what Townshend said, according to Wikipedia: Give Blood was one of the tracks I didn’t even play on. I brought in Simon Phillips [dums – CMM], Pino Palladino [bass -CMM] and David Gilmour [guitar – CMM] simply because I wanted to see my three favourite musicians of the time playing on something and, in fact, I didn’t have a song for them to work on, and sat down very, very quickly and rifled threw [sic] a box of stuff, said to Dave, “Do one of those kind of ricky-ticky-ricky-ticky things, and I’ll shout ‘Give Blood!’ in the microphone every five minutes and let’s see what happens.” And that’s what happened. Then I constructed the song around what they did.

Boz Scaggs/I’ve Got Your Love

When my streaming music provider served up I’ve Got Your Love by Boz Scaggs the other day, I immediately loved the tune’s soulful feel. Written solely by Scaggs, this song is from Come On Home, a studio album he released in April 1997. Even though Scaggs has put out records since 1965, sadly, the only tunes I can name are his two biggest hits Lowdown and Lido Shuffle, which were both included on his best-selling album Silk Degrees that came out in February 1976. Scaggs, who also played on the first two albums of Steve Miller Band in 1968, apparently remains active to this day. Damn, I’ve Got Your Love is such a great tune – so glad it was brought to me!

Elton John/Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding

For the sixth and final tune of this week’s zig-zag music journey, I picked a real classic off my favorite Elton John album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road from October 1973: Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding. Borrowing from a previous post I did in December 2020, here’s what I said about the album’s magnificent opener: The first part is an instrumental of music John felt he’d like to be played at his funeral – one wonders a bit in what state of mind he was! It’s followed by Love Lies Bleeding, which Songfacts describes as an angry song about a broken relationship. Had it not been fused together with Funeral, something producer Gus Dudgeon had come up with, I would have included Love Lies Bleeding in my previous post about great Elton John rockers. While due to the total length of over just 11 minutes the track initially wasn’t released as a single, it became a fan favorite and staple of John’s live set lists. It’s easy to understand why!

And here it is…drum roll…Christian’s Music Musings is embracing 21st-century technology…my first embedded Spotify list. Take that Apple Music, despite my brilliant computer skills, I couldn’t figure out how to embed playlists using your platform so I won’t, at least not for playlist embeds!

Sources: Wikipedia; Tangerine Dream website; Songfacts; YouTube