A mixed list, with hopefully something for everyone, at least something to keep all of us happy and to turn you on to some new music as well (or in this case, old music, but what is The List for if not to turn you on to both new and old music and to remind you of what you really loved in the first place and why you came here to begin with?) This time, we went all the way back to Robert Johnson with the blues of "They're Red Hot" and then back again to ABC and "The Look of Love" and everything in between (no Dylan this time though he is mentioned offhand, bien sur).
"They’re Red Hot" by Robert Johnson – Go back a way to the early blues tradition and you’ll find Johnson seated there. "They’re Red Hot" is one of his most memorable songs, one of the easiest to dance to and the sort of thing you would expect to hear in a gin joint. Likely you don't know this song, but it is well worth your time to look up this simple number. It’s worth looking for. It takes a while to appreciate early blues -– or it took me a while anyway -– but once I got there it wasn’t long before I found Johnson and really got into his riffs and his lyrics most especially; simple though they may be, they seem to pulse with a sexuality that is blatant and come-hither. Give it a chance; you just might like.
"Transatlanticism" by Death Cab for Cutie – I couldn’t find much on this album that I liked, though this one song appealed to me so much that I went through a phase of playing it over and over again. "Transatlanticism" is a classic love song (“I need you so much closer” is the line he repeats again and again as the song builds and builds on itself). You think the whole thing will come tumbling down as it keeps building but miraculously it does not - it is a gentle letdown. A summer song, or at least for me it was, and even though a few years old now, what on this list isn’t old, and isn’t that sort of the point? To refresh us of what was and to bring it forward and perhaps make it new again? This is our hope. You probably know Death Cab for Cutie. If you don’t know "Transatlanticism", find it and take a listen. It’s a long song – probably about nine minutes in all,; it certainly feels that long and could even be longer, and although the lines are repetitive, a lot of this is made up for by the fact that the song is so musically interesting.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Scott Butki
Hooray for a new list. I was starting to miss you.
Did you ever figure out how to email me so we can talk by email sometime?
Try just going to my fotolog
2 - sadi ranson-polizzotti
Hey Scott - let me try again, i wasn't able to find it the other way i tried; let me try my fotolog and see if i can find it that way.... let me check it out... glad you're happy new list is out...
if you get a chance, spread the word, not sure the others know... i should post a note over there... just time and i'm working on a new list already (how time flies and i don't want to be late blah blah). Let me see if i can find your email address.... xo - sade
3 - chantal stone
great list Sadi!! "Tempted" is one of my all time favorite songs, and I wore the hell out of that tape back in the day.....now I have to go dig out my Squeeze: 45s and Under CD.
4 - Scott Butki
ABC and Squeeze were on my turntable a lot... back when people had turntables.
5 - sadi ranson-polizzotti
hi Chantal ^_^ ~~ 45s and Under is the best Squeeze album in my book. I only have it on vinyl but i like so many album on vinyl. i love that song and then i also love Black Coffee in Bed, which i'm certain will make the list at some point in the not too distant future, so keep an eye out.. there may be stuff on the list you don't know, but try to get into it if you can... i realize it's eclectic, perhaps more so that usual, but i wanted to turn ya'll onto some new stuff, especially Robert Johnson becaues it all goes back to the Blues and Robert Johnson is one of the places if not the place where it al starts.... They're Red Hot is a great, great song... see if you can find it to down load or listen to on Amazon... it's a fun fun song to dance to in your kitchen ... seriously, i do this all the time (should i admit this??? probably not) ... nice to see you! ~~ sade.
6 - sadi ranson-polizzotti
SB - I still have a turntable (three actually) and i still spin my records on it all the time.... esp. Bob Dylan who just doesn't sound the same on CD as he does on vinyl... some artists just sound better on vinyl than they do on CD and he's one of them... others would be Joy Division, old blues stuff which lends itself naturally to vinyl - oh lots of stuff... i'm sure you could fill in the gaps... don'tyou still have a turntable? did you get my email messages via msn and yahoo? join MSN If possible if you want to IM... it's great and easy to download... i finally found your email address... and i'm better wiht IM than i am with email... with email i'm terrible at answering since i get so much every day (about 60 per day at least) IM is better... lemme know what you decide to do.... ; ) - sade...
7 - sadi ranson-polizzotti
Steve????? You here????
8 - chantal stone
Sadi....
I still have a turntable too..... my husband and I use it all the time, in fact. And you're absolutely right, some music just sounds better on vinyl.
I inherited my Dad's old jazz collection---about 150+ old albums dating back to the 50s. Most are in great condition, but some have a lot of the crackles, which, depending on the music, actually can sound pretty good.
I love to listen to some old Billie Holiday, Cole Porter or Oscar Peterson on record. We've also updated our collection over the years, ranging from everything to the Eagles, Simon & Garfunkel and Carly Simon, to Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, to a LOT of disco and even as recent as Prince and U2.
9 - zingzing
on the robert johnson=sexy idea, check out "come on in my kitchen." you damn right. rj is a good way to get into early delta blues. he works within an aesthetic that people can understand. from him, go check out "blind" willie johnson, son house and charlie patton. mmmm, mmm, mm.
ahh, big star. one of the greatest. did you ever get third/sister lovers? thirteen has always been one of my favorite songs off that first album, but i think it was their second where they really took off into beatles-like levels of the stratosphere. just too fuckin good for this world.
10 - zingzing
oh yeah, i meant to write that i think it's strange that you picked "red hot" as an example of robert johnson, as it is pretty much a novelty in his recorded output. i think it is interesting, and i've never heard anything quite like it, but it does stick out like a sore thumb on a cd of his stuff.
11 - sadi ranson-polizzotti
Chantal - yes, you're right - there are just some tunes that are made for turntables, esp older stuff... old blues on a turntable sound perfect as well... you gotta check that out as well... i just love old blues stuff... which is why we have some here this week... i think next list i'll have some stuff from Dylan's Basement Tapes from Big Pink (to go completely off=topic) but that too sounds better slightly muffled tho hard to find and i've only got on CD and never seen on vinyl, alas... sounds like you have quite a collection...
Billie Holiday *sigh* which reminds me of Nina Simone who i also love who sounds great on a turntable as well....
12 - sadi ranson-polizzotti
zing zing - i know "come on in my kitchen" very very well, of course... ! i know most of this stuff, and old blues you and i could rap all day about, i'm sure b/c it sounds like a shared reference. it just hasn't made the list before b/c not so many people know about it so that's why i haven't included it but i decided to amuse myself and from now on to do what the point of the List is, which is to turn people on to new stuff that i'm listening to right now (hence List of the Moment, title) --- I know Blind Willie Nelson, i know all the greats....
You don't like They're Red Hot? Yes, it's different from so much on teh rest of the collected works but it's a fun fun song, i think and damn fun to dance to and sexy in it's way i think but yes, Come On In My Kitchen is far sexier , we agree....
what else... hmmmm...
you like Robert Johnson by any chance, Nick Drake (to go off on a total tangent here and a bit OT) just curious....
13 - Scott Butki
I'll check and let you know, Sadi/Sade/Miss S.
14 - Scott Butki
I don't see any emails but my computer may have rudely dismissed you as spam. Do you recall either the subject heading or what name it would list you as?
Getting us back on topic, have you listened to much Christine Lavin or Jonathan Richman?
15 - zingzing
i like red hot. but... i don't think it's very representative of johnson's (recorded) output. it's so completely different than the rest of his recordings... if people go looking up johnson based on liking only red hot, they're going to find something completely different. which will probably be a nice surprise. it's good, but i think it is one of his lesser songs.
i love nick drake, although i have to admit that pink moon is the only one i currently own. i liked its stripped down qualities. but, i'd bet you are comparing their guitar styles, aren't you? i find them very similar. both of them have this strange ability to sound like 2-3 guitarists at once, picking out melodies and rhythms note-for-note... i don't see how they wrap their mind around it. it's amazing.
blind willie nelson? that's a funny one. i'm sure you just fucked up there. just to make sure, i went and tried to look up this blind willie nelson... and came back with blind willie johnson and willie nelson hits... still, as far as slips go, i got a little laugh out of it.
yes, old blues is one of my favorites. i love the solo acoustic stuff. mmmmmmmmm.
16 - Steve
Yes, Sadi, I am here now lol. Took me a while but anyways...
Never been a big blues fan, I only have about 50 Blues songs in my collection of over 12,000 songs!
I have all of ABC's regular albums, my all-time fave of their's is "All Of My Heart", but "The Look Of Love" is great too.
I have the Chicane remix of "Before Today". I enjoy Chicane as much as Everything But The Girl, so it's a great combo!!
We've discussed Squeeze and the Propellerheads before, so I'll not comment on those again.
Journey were OK, I have a couple of their tunes.
Gonna post this now, before I lose it, like what happened earlier today lol.
17 - sadi ranson-polizzotti
Hey Scott = no idea = essage would hae been from MSN most likely ...tbat would be my guess. there must be some easier way of doing this grrr.. i'll just email you direct somehow. build in your fotolog link here again and i'll go there and see if i can find your address... or i think i have it actually, i just prefer IM to email... so hopefully you're on it.. i get too many freakin emails....
don't know the two you speak of.. what genre?
18 - sadi ranson-polizzotti
Yes Zing Zing You're right, Red HOt isn't rep. of Johnson's output at all.. he's stuff is different from that and in a way more sultry, more typically bluesy in some ways, i would say... but amazingly so.... Funny about the Blind Willie Nelson slip - ooops! and i saw Willie Nelson perform with Bob Dylan a year ago and it was an amazing show (i was there mostly for Dylan, i have to admit, but wow, both were pretty amazing)....
Yes, the strumming, picking, the way they play the guitar - Drake et al, they do make it sound as if more than one person is playing and i can't quite suss out how they do that. My husband can play like that. I think Robert Johnson can play like that too (though Drake i've long loved since before he was popular.... )(ugh)... but yes... this is why i brought it up... so i'm not crazy... you noticed this as well...
19 - Steve
I must say, though I have heard of Death Cab... and Jazz Butcher, I have no idea what they sound like. Never heard of Bigstar either, actually.
I have one song by the Allman Brothers ("Get On With Your Life", from 1991), though I can't say I'm a fan of theirs.
I only have the Mariah Carey version of "Open Arms", and the only Journey songs I have are "Only The Young" (from the 1985 film "Vision Quest", which I never saw!) and "Separate Ways".
20 - Scott Butki
My fotolog page is here and my myspace page is here.
Lavin is folk. Richman is folk rock, I guess. he was in the modern lovers. Think King Missile but done 10 plus years before.
21 - Steve
Just checkin'...did you see my comments (#16 & #19) Sadi?? Been a while since we chatted, just wondering...
22 - sadi ranson-polizzotti
Hi Steve ~ sorry took me so long to write back = thought you might like EBTG - great group...
Jazz Butcher and Big Star you should check out.. Jazz Butcher are hard to find but i really think you'd like them a lot... they're a great group and fun too.... so worth looking into ...
Journey, god, i put that up there for auld langs ayne as they say..... why not... right...
just for fun...
23 - Steve
Thanks for the tips, Sadi.
Looking forward to the next List.
24 - sadi ranson-polizzotti
hey Steve; you're welcome.. hope you'll check them out... or some of them. Check out "13" by Big Star. I think you'd like that song a lot...
next list to come soon. I'm away for two days this week on biz. in NYC so i may have to do it in the car on the way down and then put it up when i get back home... but i can at least write it out...
cool cool...
i'm trying to make list more eclectic to give people more choices and other things to think about like Robert Johnson and so on... old blues stuff... just because there are a lot of people who do connect with that and i hope they will find hte column at some point and join us here as well, so we have a real mix/medly of folk... that said, i want to keep ya'll here as well.. so let's see what's on the next List...
Til then, i'll try not to space them out so much...
love etc to you - s.
25 - Steve
Wow, Sadi, just did some research on Big Star, they sure do back a long way, my goodness! One of the founding members was in the Box Tops from 1967-1971, before Big Star started (who lasted from 1972-1978). All news to me to be honest. Funnily enough, the Box Tops had hits (especially in the US) before they folded, unlike Big Star. How did you get into them, Sadi?
I listened to "Thirteen". They kind of remind me a bit of a 70's version of Wet Wet Wet's "Goodnight Girl"...are you familiar wih them?
Re. the List, I think regularity is more key to readership than frequency (e.g. the same day or two of each month rather than weekly), Sadi (though I would be happy with more, but I know you're a busy gal!). Eclecticism is a good idea also. I would suggest you date your bands so folks who are unfamiliar can tell if they're new bands, old bands or defunct ones.