A Cheat Entry from the Musical Time Machine (next to the Sick Bed)

My lungs and I are not cooperating this weekend, so the muse is taking a couple of days off to play blackjack in Atlantic City. In the interim, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite songs of the late 1970s - gather around kiddies for a little musical edjamacation, and, fellow 40-somethings, feel a little nostalgia for stringy haircuts and jeans so tight they may have caused peripheral artery disease!

First, one of my all time faves, 10cc with "The Things You Do For Love":



10cc had Godley & Creme and Eric Stewart - the guys were no slouches. It's got a good hook, and I put it on just about every mix I make.

And how about one of the coolest early (1978) new wave-ish songs around, Sniff 'n' the Tears' "Driver's Seat":



Whatever happened to Sniff 'n' the peeps? Not a clue. Guess I could look 'em up on Wikipedia, but maybe it's better to think of their fate as a mystery rather than find out they're working the drive-thru window somewhere...

And, finally, a track that has everything right about it. "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding" was written by Nick Lowe (who also produced this track and "Armed Forces" the album on which this appeared in the U.S.) and performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. Just look at those skinny English boys frolick, and, damn, listen to that skinny English boy just belt that out!



That was 1979, when I think I really first started to listen to my own music, as opposed to whatever my sisters were listening to. I see Elvis in that tweedy overcoat with those huge eyeglasses and I swoon.

And then I realize that was how I dressed, pretty much the haircut I had, and the glasses I wore through much of the 1980s. Yes, I was a slave to new wave fashion. Men's new wave fashion. Go figure.

Now, just for kicks, here's a 2004 performance of "(What's So Funny 'Bout)..." by Elvis and Nick Lowe together. Slowed down, with a sweet harmony:



Back to the sofa with me. Hope you enjoyed the musical interlude!

More when the muse returns (hopefully with a couple hundred bucks and a hangover.)

You've Got a Friend

This morning, I heard a rerun of A Prairie Home Companion, performed up in Baltimore, with Carole King as a special musical guest. I mentioned this just now to the Sasquatch via IM, and had to follow it up by simply typing, "CAROLE! CAROLE KING!"

Now, this won't mean much to the youngins out here, but to those of us working on long teeth, it might get a snigger of recognition. The Sasquatch and I have been saying that back and forth to each other for a looong time now. And below, you will find the somewhat tasteless, but funny origin of that call, courtesy of the big, hairy, arboreal creature who found it on YouTube...

This is *so* wrong, and yet, still amuses me inappropriately decades later:



Was that Paul Shaffer's real hair?!?

Song of the Day

I was getting an overpriced beverage at Caribou (which is a Native American word for "watered down coffee") a few weeks ago, and I heard this song come on their in-house music system. I liked it so much, I tore off a page of the Post and scribbled the lyrics down for a Google search. Found it. Dig it.

Here it is - "Your Heart Is an Empty Room" by Death Cab for Cutie: