Music Labyrinth Episode 004
Track 1
"Everyday" - Dave Matthews Band
Hello again. Welcome to Episode 4 of the Music Labyrinth. If you have not been with us previously, what you have missed is some indirect meandering through the archives of popular music, all based on the loose premise that the next track we listen to will have some - often tenuous - link to the previous (and later in this episode we will be really testing how far we can stretch that thread of relevance!). We started this episode where we finished the last, with the Dave Matthews Band and their 2001 track Everyday from the album of the same name. That track was co-written by Glen Ballard, and the album was produced by him after the band decided to end their association with their previous producer, Steve Lillywhite. Ballard was best known for his collaboration some years earlier with a young Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved a Grammy Award out of her work with Ballard. Here is Alanis Morissette.
Track 2
"All I Really Want" - Alanis Morissette
From the album which generated in excess of 33 million sales worldwide, Jagged Little Pill, that was Alanis Morissette and the opening track, All I Really Want. Fans of the Steve Coogan / Rob Brydon films involving trips to Italy and Spain will recall the scene where the two actors are winding their way into a Mediterranean coastal town in an open-topped Mini and discussing the merits of this album and the wearing of sweaters backwards and inside-out. In another scene from the same series of movies, Coogan and Brydon are enjoying a meal and swapping impressions when Brydon makes reference to this song.
Track 3
"What A Fool Believes" - The Doobie Brothers
On the Music Labyrinth we just heard the Doobie Brothers from their 1978 album Minute by Minute, and the track What A Fool Believes. That song was written by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins, and it is one of the Universal Constants that one cannot mention Kenny Loggins without recalling his greatest contribution to music.
Track 4
"Footloose" - Kenny Loggins
From the 1984 film Footloose, that was Kenny Loggins with the title song from the movie's soundtrack. Two years after the release of Footloose, Loggins contributed to the soundtrack of another blockbuster movie, Top Gun. Loggins' tracks on the Top Gun soundtrack were Danger Zone and Playing With The Boys, but anyone who has seen Top Gun (and who hasn't?) will always associate it with this song.
Track 5
"You've Lost That Loving Feeling" - The Righteous Brothers
From 1964, that was the Righteous Brothers and You've Lost That Loving Feeling, and it featured on this episode of the Music Labyrinth by virtue of its prominence in the 1986 movie, Top Gun. In the interests of thorough research for this program, I revisited that scene from the movie and was potently reminded of just how embarrassingly cringeworthy it is. Never say I haven't suffered for this program. The eternal and un-cringeworthy Righteous Brothers version of the song was co-written and produced by Phil Spector, and is considered to be the ultimate expression and illustration of Spector's famous "wall of sound" recording technique, although Spector himself was quoted as believing this next track to the the summit of that technique.
Track 6
"River Deep, Mountain High" - Ike & Tina Turner
On the Music Labyrinth we just listened to the 1966 recording of River Deep, Mountain High by Ike and Tina Turner. About the time that song was high on the playlist of radio stations around the world, an Australian act were enjoying some international attention of their own. In May 1967 they specifically targeted the North American market with an album which was not released in Australia until three years later. That album contained a cover of River Deep, Mountain High, but the song everyone remembers from it is this one.
Track 7
"Friday On My Mind" - The Easybeats
That was the Easybeats with Friday on My Mind. The songwriting force behind the Easybeats were its members Harry Vanda and George Young. Their songwriting career continued well beyond The Easybeats, and they enjoyed great success in their own right, as well as writing successful hit records for Stevie Wright, John Paul Young and other acts. Now, when researching Vanda and Young, my attention was snagged by an assertion on the fan blog of another band. This assertion is entirely apocryphal and I can find no supporting evidence for it. It is almost certainly made up. Nevertheless, I read it, and I'm sticking with it as the doorway which leads us to our next song. The assertion is that Vanda and Young are the "Harry" and "George" referred to in the lyrics of this worldwide smash hit from 1978.
Track 8
"Sultans of Swing" - Dire Straits
On The Music Labyrinth we just listened to Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits, and I hope you checked out Guitar George who knows all the chords, and Harry who's got a daytime job and is doing alright, and you are now complicit with me in clinging to that link with Vanda and Young. Sultans of Swing comes from Dire Straits' first album, which was produced by Mervyn "Muff" Winwood. Muff Winwood is the older brother of the highly regarded musician, Steve Wiinwood, and during the 1960s the two brothers were members of The Spencer Davis Group. Here they are with one of the great songs of the rock era.
Track 9
"Gimme Some Lovin'" - Spencer Davis Group
That was the Spencer Davis Group, featuring the brothers Steve and Muff Winwood, with Gimme Some Lovin. Almost everybody knows that song and that riff, and it pops up countless times in popular references since its release in October 1966. Perhaps the most recognised cover version is that from the soundtrack to the movie Blues Brothers in 1980. Of course, here on the Music Labyrinth, the obvious way way forward is not always the one we choose. And so it is with this track. We've spent some time during this episode discussing average action movies of the 1980s Let's stay there for now. Gimme Some Lovin' appeared in a jet attack scene in the 1986 film Iron Eagle. Also featuring in that movie was this classic.
Track 10
"One Vison" - Queen
On The Music Labyrinth we just listened to Queen with their 1985 hit, One Vision. You almost certainly will have noticed, towards the end of the track, Freddie Mercury getting a little mischievous and substituting fried chicken where the song title would otherwise have been. Now I've discovered there are a surprising number of contemporary songs which reference this delicacy, and here's one of them.
Track 11
"Drops of Jupiter" - Train
That was Train, with their Grammy Award winning song Drops of Jupiter released in 2002 and musing on the merits of a world without love, pride or deep fried chicken. The track also contains a lovely string arrangement by the Canadian arranger, composer, and conductor David Campbell. Among the many other artists Campbell has worked with is the Vermont based Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. Campbell's string arrangement can be heard on this next track. To round out this episode of The Music Labyrinth, this is The Lion The Beast The Beat.
Track 12
"The Lion The Beast The Beat" - Grace Potter and The Nocturnals
"Everyday" - Dave Matthews Band
Hello again. Welcome to Episode 4 of the Music Labyrinth. If you have not been with us previously, what you have missed is some indirect meandering through the archives of popular music, all based on the loose premise that the next track we listen to will have some - often tenuous - link to the previous (and later in this episode we will be really testing how far we can stretch that thread of relevance!). We started this episode where we finished the last, with the Dave Matthews Band and their 2001 track Everyday from the album of the same name. That track was co-written by Glen Ballard, and the album was produced by him after the band decided to end their association with their previous producer, Steve Lillywhite. Ballard was best known for his collaboration some years earlier with a young Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved a Grammy Award out of her work with Ballard. Here is Alanis Morissette.
Track 2
"All I Really Want" - Alanis Morissette
From the album which generated in excess of 33 million sales worldwide, Jagged Little Pill, that was Alanis Morissette and the opening track, All I Really Want. Fans of the Steve Coogan / Rob Brydon films involving trips to Italy and Spain will recall the scene where the two actors are winding their way into a Mediterranean coastal town in an open-topped Mini and discussing the merits of this album and the wearing of sweaters backwards and inside-out. In another scene from the same series of movies, Coogan and Brydon are enjoying a meal and swapping impressions when Brydon makes reference to this song.
Track 3
"What A Fool Believes" - The Doobie Brothers
On the Music Labyrinth we just heard the Doobie Brothers from their 1978 album Minute by Minute, and the track What A Fool Believes. That song was written by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins, and it is one of the Universal Constants that one cannot mention Kenny Loggins without recalling his greatest contribution to music.
Track 4
"Footloose" - Kenny Loggins
From the 1984 film Footloose, that was Kenny Loggins with the title song from the movie's soundtrack. Two years after the release of Footloose, Loggins contributed to the soundtrack of another blockbuster movie, Top Gun. Loggins' tracks on the Top Gun soundtrack were Danger Zone and Playing With The Boys, but anyone who has seen Top Gun (and who hasn't?) will always associate it with this song.
Track 5
"You've Lost That Loving Feeling" - The Righteous Brothers
From 1964, that was the Righteous Brothers and You've Lost That Loving Feeling, and it featured on this episode of the Music Labyrinth by virtue of its prominence in the 1986 movie, Top Gun. In the interests of thorough research for this program, I revisited that scene from the movie and was potently reminded of just how embarrassingly cringeworthy it is. Never say I haven't suffered for this program. The eternal and un-cringeworthy Righteous Brothers version of the song was co-written and produced by Phil Spector, and is considered to be the ultimate expression and illustration of Spector's famous "wall of sound" recording technique, although Spector himself was quoted as believing this next track to the the summit of that technique.
Track 6
"River Deep, Mountain High" - Ike & Tina Turner
On the Music Labyrinth we just listened to the 1966 recording of River Deep, Mountain High by Ike and Tina Turner. About the time that song was high on the playlist of radio stations around the world, an Australian act were enjoying some international attention of their own. In May 1967 they specifically targeted the North American market with an album which was not released in Australia until three years later. That album contained a cover of River Deep, Mountain High, but the song everyone remembers from it is this one.
Track 7
"Friday On My Mind" - The Easybeats
That was the Easybeats with Friday on My Mind. The songwriting force behind the Easybeats were its members Harry Vanda and George Young. Their songwriting career continued well beyond The Easybeats, and they enjoyed great success in their own right, as well as writing successful hit records for Stevie Wright, John Paul Young and other acts. Now, when researching Vanda and Young, my attention was snagged by an assertion on the fan blog of another band. This assertion is entirely apocryphal and I can find no supporting evidence for it. It is almost certainly made up. Nevertheless, I read it, and I'm sticking with it as the doorway which leads us to our next song. The assertion is that Vanda and Young are the "Harry" and "George" referred to in the lyrics of this worldwide smash hit from 1978.
Track 8
"Sultans of Swing" - Dire Straits
On The Music Labyrinth we just listened to Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits, and I hope you checked out Guitar George who knows all the chords, and Harry who's got a daytime job and is doing alright, and you are now complicit with me in clinging to that link with Vanda and Young. Sultans of Swing comes from Dire Straits' first album, which was produced by Mervyn "Muff" Winwood. Muff Winwood is the older brother of the highly regarded musician, Steve Wiinwood, and during the 1960s the two brothers were members of The Spencer Davis Group. Here they are with one of the great songs of the rock era.
Track 9
"Gimme Some Lovin'" - Spencer Davis Group
That was the Spencer Davis Group, featuring the brothers Steve and Muff Winwood, with Gimme Some Lovin. Almost everybody knows that song and that riff, and it pops up countless times in popular references since its release in October 1966. Perhaps the most recognised cover version is that from the soundtrack to the movie Blues Brothers in 1980. Of course, here on the Music Labyrinth, the obvious way way forward is not always the one we choose. And so it is with this track. We've spent some time during this episode discussing average action movies of the 1980s Let's stay there for now. Gimme Some Lovin' appeared in a jet attack scene in the 1986 film Iron Eagle. Also featuring in that movie was this classic.
Track 10
"One Vison" - Queen
On The Music Labyrinth we just listened to Queen with their 1985 hit, One Vision. You almost certainly will have noticed, towards the end of the track, Freddie Mercury getting a little mischievous and substituting fried chicken where the song title would otherwise have been. Now I've discovered there are a surprising number of contemporary songs which reference this delicacy, and here's one of them.
Track 11
"Drops of Jupiter" - Train
That was Train, with their Grammy Award winning song Drops of Jupiter released in 2002 and musing on the merits of a world without love, pride or deep fried chicken. The track also contains a lovely string arrangement by the Canadian arranger, composer, and conductor David Campbell. Among the many other artists Campbell has worked with is the Vermont based Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. Campbell's string arrangement can be heard on this next track. To round out this episode of The Music Labyrinth, this is The Lion The Beast The Beat.
Track 12
"The Lion The Beast The Beat" - Grace Potter and The Nocturnals