Music Labyrinth Episode 037
Lust For Life / Iggy Pop
Hello and welcome to episode 37 of The Music Labyrinth. 37 is a prime number, and I fervently hope we can deliver you a prime episode to go along with it. Of course, I realise that the logical response to that glib remark is that there have already been 11 other episodes that correspond with prime numbers. I would assert that they have all also been prime episodes, but I understand that this is leading me into a logical minefield and its probably best to leave it alone at this point. This week, you will have noticed, we commenced the show with Lust For Life by Iggy Pop; which is the tune that ended last week’s episode. So, what we are going to do right now is to find some linkage from that song to our next in order to continue our progress through The Music Labyrinth. Lust For Life was written by Iggy Pop and David Bowie in 1977, and the distinctive drum beat at the start of was played by the drummer Hunt Sales. It was subsequently replicated on songs such as Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet, but the same rhythm and tempo had been previously recorded, particularly on a Motown smash hit of 1966. Here is a subsequent cover of that song where the similar drum beat is pretty obvious.
You Can’t Hurry Love / Phil Collins
That was Phil Collins with his 1982 cover of the Supremes’ 1966 hit, You Can’t Hurry Love. Bass guitar on that track was played by Jon Giblin who, in the mid 1980s, was part of the lineup of Simple Minds on the album Once Upon A Time. From that album, and featuring Giblin on bass, this is Ghostdancing.
Ghostdancing / Simple Minds
Welcome back to The Music Labyrinth where we last heard Ghostdancing by Simple Minds, from their 1985 album Once Upon A Time. That track, and the album, were co-produced by the American producer and recording engineer Bob Clearmountain. Three years earlier, at the very top of his game, having recently contributed to vastly successful albums and singles by The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Roxy Music and The Clash, Bob Clearmountain jumped on a flight to Australia with a pair of Yamaha speakers and some tissue paper (apparently to highlight the modulation of the speakers), and quietly went to work with a Sydney based band to produce what turned out to be a classic album and this hit single from it.
Almost With You / The Church
From their 1982 album The Blurred Crusade, that was The Church with Almost With You. One of the highlights of that song is the acoustic guitar solo which has a very Spanish guitar vibe about it, and I can never hear it without immediately calling to mind another song with a similar sounding guitar break.
Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) / Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
That was Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel with what was by far their biggest commercial success, Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me), first released in 1975. The song featured in a 1998 movie called Velvet Goldmine, about the glam rock era of the 1970s. The soundtrack of that movie is a little difficult to find, but it contains some gems, including Placebo’s quite wonderful cover of this classic.
20th Century Boy / Placebo
Welcome back to The Music Labyrinth where we just heard a really fine cover of T-Rex’s 1973 hit, 20th Century Boy. The version we just heard was by the UK band, Placebo. That song once featured in a TV advertisement for Levi jeans; as too did this massive hit from 1958.
C’mon Everybody / Eddie Cochrane
From 1958 that was the original rocker - in some ways, the performer who inspired many of the greats to get into the caper - Eddie Cochrane with C’mon Everybody. Cochrane was 18 years old when he rocketed to fame performing his song Twenty Flight Rock in the Jayne Mansfield film The Girl Can’t Help It. Within three years Cochrane had amassed a string of hit singles and numerous credits as a producer and session musician. At the age of 21 he died in a motor vehicle crash in England after performing at a concert in Bristol. Sadly, he is one of a too large string of musicians and performers who have died in such crashes. One of them, killed in 1998 in a motor vehicle crash also near Bristol, was Cozy Powell, the rock drummer known for his work with Jeff Beck, Rainbow, Gary Moore, Robert Plant, Whitesnake, Keith Emerson and Black Sabbath. In amongst all that collaborative success, Powell had one hit in his own right. This one, from 1974.
Dance With The Devil / Cozy Powell
From 1974 that was Cozy Powell with Dance With The Devil. Bass guitar on that track was played by this bassist and singer who, at the time of that recording, was just embarking on a highly successful solo career.
Can The Can / Suzi Quatro
We’re back in The Music Labyrinth where we last listened to Suzi Quatro’s 1973 hit Can The Can. That song was written and produced by the incredibly successful production partnership of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, who also worked with great success with The Sweet, Smokie, Racey, Blondie and The Knack. Later in his career, Mike Chapman turned his attention to his native Australia and, in 1991, produced the debut album for the band Baby Animals. From that album, this is Rush You.
Rush You / Baby Animals
From their 1991 debut album that was Baby Animals with Rush You. The distinctive vocals on that track were sung by Suze DeMarchi who, in 2001 after Baby Animals had disbanded, was the centre of industry rumours that she may be joining INXS after the death of Michael Hutchence. Those rumours ultimately proved untrue, but their impetus came partly from a concert at which Suze DeMarchi and Jon Stevens joined the remaining members of INXS on stage. One of the songs DeMarchi performed at that concert was this one.
Shine Like It Does / INXS
That was INXS, from their 1985 album Listen Like Thieves, with Shine Like It Does. When first formed, the band were known as The Farriss Brothers, named for brothers Andrew, John and Tim Farriss who formed the core of the band. Rock music folk lore has it that a member of Midnight Oil’s road crew suggested that the band change the name to INXS, a name inspired by the Australian jam-maker IXL and the English music-makers XTC. Let’s turn to XTC (the band, that is - no artificial stimulants required here at The Music Labyrinth) to end this episode. Thanks very much for your company this week. Please come back again. From their 1982 album English Settlement, this is the quirky, catchy, eclectic Senses Working Overtime.
Senses Working Ovetime / XTC