Music Labyrinth Episode 008
Track 1
Grandma's Hands / Meg Mac
Hello, and welcome back to The Music Labyrinth, a place where we roam from song to song with no destination in mind and no plan for our journey, governed only by a single rule: that each song we listen to will have some observable link or connection with the previous. And, when I say “observable”, the listener will be aware that I use the term more broadly than the dictates of science ever intended. We commenced this week, as is our practice, where we left off last week; and that was with Meg Mac’s wonderful cover of the Bill Withers song, Grandma’s Hands. Meg Mac shares a birthday, on the 6th of July each year, with a number of notable folks, including John Paul Jones (the American naval commander, not the bass player with Led Zeppelin), Bill Haley, George W Bush, Geoffrey Rush, Jennifer Saunders and Nic Cester who, with his brother Chris, was a founding member of the Melbourne band, Jet. The band enjoyed phenomenal success with their debut album from 2003, Get Born. At this point it is very tempting to take the listener straight to that instantly recognisable riff that introduces Are You Gonna Be My Girl, but I’m going to divert to another track from that album, mainly for sheer love of the opening line. This is Cold Hard Bitch.
Cold Hard Bitch / Jet
As mentioned earlier, the band Jet was formed by the brothers Nic and Chris Cester. Nic and Chris’s uncle, Eugene Cester, has a recording career in his own right. On most of Uncle Eugene’s recorded performances he was known by the unorthodox stage name of Eugene de la Hot Croix Bun, and together with Humphrey B Flaubert and Jock Cheese, they formed the core of the anonymous, underground, alternative, and bizarrely humorous band, TISM. Here they are with Greg! The Stop Sign.
Greg! The Stop Sign / TISM
Welcome back to The Music Labyrinth where, a few moments ago, we listened to Greg! The Stop Sign by TISM. TISM famously stood as an acronym for This Is Serious Mum. I’ve always liked to think that the emphasis is on the second word, which suggests that the sentence probably aught to start with a “but, as in: But This Is Serious Mum, however I suppose BTSIM was not quite as catchy as a band name. The song we just heard was from TISM’s 1995 album Machiavelli and The Four Seasons which, commercially at least, was their most successful. Because the band liked to maintain an air of anonymity, the cover of that album did not feature a photo of TISM. Instead, it featured a photo of the early 60s American studio ensemble, The Hollywood Argyles, of whom the listener may have heard, especially if the listener is of a vintage to remember this, their biggest hit.
Alley Oop / The Hollywood Argyles
From 1960 that was The Hollywood Argyles with their million-selling, award-winning song, Alley Oop, which I guess proves that it takes a VERY wise person to be able to understand just what might move people enough to part with some income. Its certainly beyond my comprehension. The song was written by Dallas Frazier and allegedly inspired by the Alley Oop comic strip by V T Hamlin. Which got me thinking … about other songs inspired by comic strips. I came up with a handful, my favourite of which is this one which, in addition to the title characters, features a guest appearance by The Crimson Dynamo. This is Wings with Magneto & Titanium Man.
Magneto & Titanium Man / Wings
That was Wings, featuring - of course - Paul McCartney, with their 1975 song Magneto & Titanium Man. Despite the band name sometimes including reference to Paul McCartney and sometimes not, the core lineup of Wings consisted of Paul and Linda McCartney and Denney Laine for the entirety of the band’s 10 year lifespan from 1971 to 1981. Other musicians contributed to the lineup for periods of time. During the recording of the Venus and Mars album, which contained the track we just heard, and for the massive world tour which followed, Jimmy McCullogh was one of those additional band members. Prior to 1974, the 15 year old McCullogh had been a member of the band Thunderclap Newman when they enjoyed massive success with this song.
Something In The Air / Thunderclap Newman
You’re back with the Music Labyrinth. The last song we heard was from 1969 from the band Thunderclap Newman and their song Something In The Air. The song spent three weeks at number one in the UK Singles Chart in the middle of that year, and has been something of a staple in the decades since. It has featured in television advertising for Austin Minis, mobile phone providers and and British Airways. It has also been referenced in numerous TV shows; and in the soundtracks of several films, including one of my favourites from the year 2000, Almost Famous. Of course, if you are familiar with that movie, you will almost certainly now be thinking of this song, which featured heavily in the film.
Tiny Dancer / Elton John
That was, of course, Elton John with Tiny Dancer from the 1971 album, Madman Across The Water. I have some quite firm opinions about Elton John’s catalogue which, in summary, elevates his early work into the highest levels of popular music contribution; and most of his later work to the other end of that spectrum. According to my very personal and highly opinionated theory, Elton could have closed the lid on his piano after the recording of Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy and gone on a long sabbatical. For what its worth (which is not much when it comes down to it) I have a similar theory about Rod Stewart. Anyway, Tiny Dancer is well within the Elton Golden Era for me - its a beauty. Backing vocals on Tiny Dancer were sung by Tony Burrows, who had an unusual career in that he had quite a degree of success as the lead singer in several bands who managed little more than a single chart success. Here he is as the singer of Edison Lighthouse in 1970.
Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes / Edison Lighthouse
Welcome back to the Music Labyrinth, where we have found ourselves recently bouncing between one hit wonders and classic tunes of the early 1970s. Our last listen was to Edison Lighthouse and the song Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes. Lets look for an exit into different territory. The song we just heard was produced and co-written by Tony Macaulay, who later turned his hand to writing thrillers. This caused me to consider other songwriters who have turned their hands to prose. A great example is Colin Meloy of the Decemberists, who wrote the highly successful series of Wildwood books. However, as we have recently heard from the Decemberists, I looked a little further afield. The Australian songwriter, singer, and performer Nick Cave has also published multiple successful screenplays and novels, but lets enjoy his work as a songwriter and performer. Here is the lovely The Ship Song.
The Ship Song / Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave has collaborated with countless performers throughout his career, and the possible paths onwards through the Music Labyrinth from here are limited only by a lack of imagination. However, given that we have spent a little time in this episode in the music of earlier decades, lets end this episode with something which is about as contemporary as we can get. Nick Cave has contributed to a 2020 project called Angelheaded Hipster, which is a tribute to the music of Marc Bolan and T Rex. The album is not yet fully released, and only handful of tracks are currently available. Cave’s cover of Cosmic Dancer is wonderful, and I urge you to have a listen, but lets end this episode of the Music Labyrinth with Children of the Revolution by Kesha. Thanks for listening.
Children of the Revolution / Kesha
Grandma's Hands / Meg Mac
Hello, and welcome back to The Music Labyrinth, a place where we roam from song to song with no destination in mind and no plan for our journey, governed only by a single rule: that each song we listen to will have some observable link or connection with the previous. And, when I say “observable”, the listener will be aware that I use the term more broadly than the dictates of science ever intended. We commenced this week, as is our practice, where we left off last week; and that was with Meg Mac’s wonderful cover of the Bill Withers song, Grandma’s Hands. Meg Mac shares a birthday, on the 6th of July each year, with a number of notable folks, including John Paul Jones (the American naval commander, not the bass player with Led Zeppelin), Bill Haley, George W Bush, Geoffrey Rush, Jennifer Saunders and Nic Cester who, with his brother Chris, was a founding member of the Melbourne band, Jet. The band enjoyed phenomenal success with their debut album from 2003, Get Born. At this point it is very tempting to take the listener straight to that instantly recognisable riff that introduces Are You Gonna Be My Girl, but I’m going to divert to another track from that album, mainly for sheer love of the opening line. This is Cold Hard Bitch.
Cold Hard Bitch / Jet
As mentioned earlier, the band Jet was formed by the brothers Nic and Chris Cester. Nic and Chris’s uncle, Eugene Cester, has a recording career in his own right. On most of Uncle Eugene’s recorded performances he was known by the unorthodox stage name of Eugene de la Hot Croix Bun, and together with Humphrey B Flaubert and Jock Cheese, they formed the core of the anonymous, underground, alternative, and bizarrely humorous band, TISM. Here they are with Greg! The Stop Sign.
Greg! The Stop Sign / TISM
Welcome back to The Music Labyrinth where, a few moments ago, we listened to Greg! The Stop Sign by TISM. TISM famously stood as an acronym for This Is Serious Mum. I’ve always liked to think that the emphasis is on the second word, which suggests that the sentence probably aught to start with a “but, as in: But This Is Serious Mum, however I suppose BTSIM was not quite as catchy as a band name. The song we just heard was from TISM’s 1995 album Machiavelli and The Four Seasons which, commercially at least, was their most successful. Because the band liked to maintain an air of anonymity, the cover of that album did not feature a photo of TISM. Instead, it featured a photo of the early 60s American studio ensemble, The Hollywood Argyles, of whom the listener may have heard, especially if the listener is of a vintage to remember this, their biggest hit.
Alley Oop / The Hollywood Argyles
From 1960 that was The Hollywood Argyles with their million-selling, award-winning song, Alley Oop, which I guess proves that it takes a VERY wise person to be able to understand just what might move people enough to part with some income. Its certainly beyond my comprehension. The song was written by Dallas Frazier and allegedly inspired by the Alley Oop comic strip by V T Hamlin. Which got me thinking … about other songs inspired by comic strips. I came up with a handful, my favourite of which is this one which, in addition to the title characters, features a guest appearance by The Crimson Dynamo. This is Wings with Magneto & Titanium Man.
Magneto & Titanium Man / Wings
That was Wings, featuring - of course - Paul McCartney, with their 1975 song Magneto & Titanium Man. Despite the band name sometimes including reference to Paul McCartney and sometimes not, the core lineup of Wings consisted of Paul and Linda McCartney and Denney Laine for the entirety of the band’s 10 year lifespan from 1971 to 1981. Other musicians contributed to the lineup for periods of time. During the recording of the Venus and Mars album, which contained the track we just heard, and for the massive world tour which followed, Jimmy McCullogh was one of those additional band members. Prior to 1974, the 15 year old McCullogh had been a member of the band Thunderclap Newman when they enjoyed massive success with this song.
Something In The Air / Thunderclap Newman
You’re back with the Music Labyrinth. The last song we heard was from 1969 from the band Thunderclap Newman and their song Something In The Air. The song spent three weeks at number one in the UK Singles Chart in the middle of that year, and has been something of a staple in the decades since. It has featured in television advertising for Austin Minis, mobile phone providers and and British Airways. It has also been referenced in numerous TV shows; and in the soundtracks of several films, including one of my favourites from the year 2000, Almost Famous. Of course, if you are familiar with that movie, you will almost certainly now be thinking of this song, which featured heavily in the film.
Tiny Dancer / Elton John
That was, of course, Elton John with Tiny Dancer from the 1971 album, Madman Across The Water. I have some quite firm opinions about Elton John’s catalogue which, in summary, elevates his early work into the highest levels of popular music contribution; and most of his later work to the other end of that spectrum. According to my very personal and highly opinionated theory, Elton could have closed the lid on his piano after the recording of Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy and gone on a long sabbatical. For what its worth (which is not much when it comes down to it) I have a similar theory about Rod Stewart. Anyway, Tiny Dancer is well within the Elton Golden Era for me - its a beauty. Backing vocals on Tiny Dancer were sung by Tony Burrows, who had an unusual career in that he had quite a degree of success as the lead singer in several bands who managed little more than a single chart success. Here he is as the singer of Edison Lighthouse in 1970.
Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes / Edison Lighthouse
Welcome back to the Music Labyrinth, where we have found ourselves recently bouncing between one hit wonders and classic tunes of the early 1970s. Our last listen was to Edison Lighthouse and the song Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes. Lets look for an exit into different territory. The song we just heard was produced and co-written by Tony Macaulay, who later turned his hand to writing thrillers. This caused me to consider other songwriters who have turned their hands to prose. A great example is Colin Meloy of the Decemberists, who wrote the highly successful series of Wildwood books. However, as we have recently heard from the Decemberists, I looked a little further afield. The Australian songwriter, singer, and performer Nick Cave has also published multiple successful screenplays and novels, but lets enjoy his work as a songwriter and performer. Here is the lovely The Ship Song.
The Ship Song / Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave has collaborated with countless performers throughout his career, and the possible paths onwards through the Music Labyrinth from here are limited only by a lack of imagination. However, given that we have spent a little time in this episode in the music of earlier decades, lets end this episode with something which is about as contemporary as we can get. Nick Cave has contributed to a 2020 project called Angelheaded Hipster, which is a tribute to the music of Marc Bolan and T Rex. The album is not yet fully released, and only handful of tracks are currently available. Cave’s cover of Cosmic Dancer is wonderful, and I urge you to have a listen, but lets end this episode of the Music Labyrinth with Children of the Revolution by Kesha. Thanks for listening.
Children of the Revolution / Kesha