Music Labyrinth Episode 039
Allison / Everything But The Girl
Hello and welcome to episode 39 of The Music Labyrinth. 39, in addition to being the jumper number of Brownlow medalist Adam Goodes, is also the number of steps in the title of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 spy thriller, The 39 Steps. A parody of the film once appeared on the Sesame Street segment Monsterpiece Theatre, and it involved Grover, in a film noir setting, climbing the steps and counting each one, before encountering a brick wall at the top, and sliding down the banister. Thankfully, here at The Music Labyrinth there are no such barriers to onward progress. We commenced this week with a beautiful cover of the Elvis Costello song Allison, by Everything But The Girl. Allison is such a popular and enduring song that its easy to forget that it first appeared on Costello’s debut album, My Aim Is True, way back in 1977. But for me, the track on that debut album that made me sit up and take notice was this one.
Watching The Detectives / Elvis Costello
From his 1977 album My Aim Is True, that was Elvis Costello with the slightly enigmatic, slightly dark, Watching The Detectives. I must have listened to it a thousand times and I’m still uncertain whether the female subject of the song is actually present at a crime scene, or watching on TV. Around the same era, a bunch of young blokes in Sydney had definitely been watching detectives on TV. We know that because they wrote this song about it. They were also at the vanguard of what became the Australian punk scene. This is Radio Birdman with Aloha Steve & Danno.
Aloha Steve & Danno / Radio Birdman
Welcome back to The Music Labyrinth where we were most recently dipped our toes in the 70s punk scene with Radio Birdman’s Aloha Steve & Danno. After breaking up in 1978, Radio Birdman reformed in 1996 for the Big Day Out festivals of that year. They were one of a handful of groups, including this next one, who performed at all the Australian shows on that tour. From 1997 (which, I am assured by a regular listener to this program, was a VERY good year) this is The Prodigy with Breathe.
Breathe / The Prodigy
That was Breathe by the Prodigy, and I hope you all enjoyed it, but I particularly hope that my good friend Mabel pricked up her ears at it. The drum beat at the centre of that song is sampled from this next song. My list of favourite songs is a VERY long list, but this song would be certainly in the top third of it. This is Thin Lizzy with Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed.
Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed / Thin Lizzy
From 1976, that was Thin Lizzy with Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed. And now, in one of those unavoidable moments of Labyrinthine synchronicity, we are going to end up in a place where I tried for us not to be. You will recall we started this show with Elvis Costello’s Allison. That song was so early in Costello’s career and so early in the production of that first album, that his regular backing band, The Attractions, had not yet come into being. On Allison, Costello was backed by the American band, Clover, which had, until immediately before their work with Costello, featured Huey Lewis. The Huey Lewis route was one which I attempted to avoid. However, it is not to be. You see, a year earlier, when Thin Lizzy recorded their Johnny The Fox album, which included the track we just heard, the subsequent tour to promote the album included the band Clover, and Huey Lewis, as the support act. In fact, if you listen to Thin Lizzy’s epic live album Live & Dangerous, you will hear Huey Lewis introduced during one of the tracks. So, who am I to attempt to stand in the way of such Labyrinthine determination. Here is the man, from the 1980 album Huey Lewis & The News, with Trouble In Paradise.
Trouble In Paradise / Huey Lewis & The News
Here we are in The Music Labyrinth where we caved in to the greater forces of the Universe, and listened to Trouble In Paradise by Huey Lewis & The News. That band featured in the narrative of the 1991 novel American Psycho, having a chapter in the book named after them. Their song, Hip To Be Square can be heard in the film based on the book, as too can this 80s staple.
Walking On Sunshine / Katrina & The Waves
From 1983 that was Katrina & The Waves with Walking On Sunshine. Now it would be unkind to call Katrina & The Waves a one-hit wonder. And inaccurate, given that they won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with Love Shine A Light. However, the list of hits is finite, but it does include the song Going Down To Liverpool which was covered live in concert multiple times by this band.
Walk Like An Egyptian / The Bangles
That was The Bangles with their 1986 smash hit, Walk Like An Egyptian. The Bangles featured Susannah Hoffs, Debbi Peterson, Vicki Peterson and Michael Steele. In 2006 Susannah Hoffs teamed up with Matthew Sweet to produce several albums of cover versions of well-known songs. That project was called Under The Covers and from it, this is Cinnamon Girl.
Cinnamon Girl / Susannah Hoffs and Matthew Sweet
Welcome back to The Music Labyrinth where we last heard Susannah Hoffs and Matthew Sweet’s cover of the Neil Young song Cinnamon Girl. The classic riff you heard in that song appears in a slightly bizarre album track from the 1990 album Pretty On The Inside by Hole. The track, called Star Belly, is quite short, and it starts with that unmistakeable riff, before meandering into some random sounds until there is an equally unmistakeable 5 second sample of this song.
Rhiannon / Fleetwood Mac
That was, of course, the unmistakeable Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac. The song was written by Stevie Nicks in 1975. Around the same time, and featuring on the same Fleetwood Mac album as Rhiannon, was another Stevie Nicks song which has been covered many times. This is a 1994 version by The Smashing Pumpkins.
Landslide / The Smashing Pumpkins
From the B-side of their 1994 single Disarm, that was the Smashing Pumpkins with their cover of the Stevie Nicks song Landslide. Lets stay with The Smashing Pumpkins to end this episode of The Music Labyrinth. As always, thanks for your company. Please join us again next week as we continue our journey. After the massive success of Melon Collie & The Infinite Sadness, the Smashing Pumpkins embarked on a slight change of direction with their next single. In what might be a theme for our activities each week here in The Music Labyrinth, lets end this show with The End Is The Beginning Is The End.
The End Is The Beginning Is The End / Smashing Pumpkins
Hello and welcome to episode 39 of The Music Labyrinth. 39, in addition to being the jumper number of Brownlow medalist Adam Goodes, is also the number of steps in the title of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 spy thriller, The 39 Steps. A parody of the film once appeared on the Sesame Street segment Monsterpiece Theatre, and it involved Grover, in a film noir setting, climbing the steps and counting each one, before encountering a brick wall at the top, and sliding down the banister. Thankfully, here at The Music Labyrinth there are no such barriers to onward progress. We commenced this week with a beautiful cover of the Elvis Costello song Allison, by Everything But The Girl. Allison is such a popular and enduring song that its easy to forget that it first appeared on Costello’s debut album, My Aim Is True, way back in 1977. But for me, the track on that debut album that made me sit up and take notice was this one.
Watching The Detectives / Elvis Costello
From his 1977 album My Aim Is True, that was Elvis Costello with the slightly enigmatic, slightly dark, Watching The Detectives. I must have listened to it a thousand times and I’m still uncertain whether the female subject of the song is actually present at a crime scene, or watching on TV. Around the same era, a bunch of young blokes in Sydney had definitely been watching detectives on TV. We know that because they wrote this song about it. They were also at the vanguard of what became the Australian punk scene. This is Radio Birdman with Aloha Steve & Danno.
Aloha Steve & Danno / Radio Birdman
Welcome back to The Music Labyrinth where we were most recently dipped our toes in the 70s punk scene with Radio Birdman’s Aloha Steve & Danno. After breaking up in 1978, Radio Birdman reformed in 1996 for the Big Day Out festivals of that year. They were one of a handful of groups, including this next one, who performed at all the Australian shows on that tour. From 1997 (which, I am assured by a regular listener to this program, was a VERY good year) this is The Prodigy with Breathe.
Breathe / The Prodigy
That was Breathe by the Prodigy, and I hope you all enjoyed it, but I particularly hope that my good friend Mabel pricked up her ears at it. The drum beat at the centre of that song is sampled from this next song. My list of favourite songs is a VERY long list, but this song would be certainly in the top third of it. This is Thin Lizzy with Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed.
Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed / Thin Lizzy
From 1976, that was Thin Lizzy with Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed. And now, in one of those unavoidable moments of Labyrinthine synchronicity, we are going to end up in a place where I tried for us not to be. You will recall we started this show with Elvis Costello’s Allison. That song was so early in Costello’s career and so early in the production of that first album, that his regular backing band, The Attractions, had not yet come into being. On Allison, Costello was backed by the American band, Clover, which had, until immediately before their work with Costello, featured Huey Lewis. The Huey Lewis route was one which I attempted to avoid. However, it is not to be. You see, a year earlier, when Thin Lizzy recorded their Johnny The Fox album, which included the track we just heard, the subsequent tour to promote the album included the band Clover, and Huey Lewis, as the support act. In fact, if you listen to Thin Lizzy’s epic live album Live & Dangerous, you will hear Huey Lewis introduced during one of the tracks. So, who am I to attempt to stand in the way of such Labyrinthine determination. Here is the man, from the 1980 album Huey Lewis & The News, with Trouble In Paradise.
Trouble In Paradise / Huey Lewis & The News
Here we are in The Music Labyrinth where we caved in to the greater forces of the Universe, and listened to Trouble In Paradise by Huey Lewis & The News. That band featured in the narrative of the 1991 novel American Psycho, having a chapter in the book named after them. Their song, Hip To Be Square can be heard in the film based on the book, as too can this 80s staple.
Walking On Sunshine / Katrina & The Waves
From 1983 that was Katrina & The Waves with Walking On Sunshine. Now it would be unkind to call Katrina & The Waves a one-hit wonder. And inaccurate, given that they won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with Love Shine A Light. However, the list of hits is finite, but it does include the song Going Down To Liverpool which was covered live in concert multiple times by this band.
Walk Like An Egyptian / The Bangles
That was The Bangles with their 1986 smash hit, Walk Like An Egyptian. The Bangles featured Susannah Hoffs, Debbi Peterson, Vicki Peterson and Michael Steele. In 2006 Susannah Hoffs teamed up with Matthew Sweet to produce several albums of cover versions of well-known songs. That project was called Under The Covers and from it, this is Cinnamon Girl.
Cinnamon Girl / Susannah Hoffs and Matthew Sweet
Welcome back to The Music Labyrinth where we last heard Susannah Hoffs and Matthew Sweet’s cover of the Neil Young song Cinnamon Girl. The classic riff you heard in that song appears in a slightly bizarre album track from the 1990 album Pretty On The Inside by Hole. The track, called Star Belly, is quite short, and it starts with that unmistakeable riff, before meandering into some random sounds until there is an equally unmistakeable 5 second sample of this song.
Rhiannon / Fleetwood Mac
That was, of course, the unmistakeable Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac. The song was written by Stevie Nicks in 1975. Around the same time, and featuring on the same Fleetwood Mac album as Rhiannon, was another Stevie Nicks song which has been covered many times. This is a 1994 version by The Smashing Pumpkins.
Landslide / The Smashing Pumpkins
From the B-side of their 1994 single Disarm, that was the Smashing Pumpkins with their cover of the Stevie Nicks song Landslide. Lets stay with The Smashing Pumpkins to end this episode of The Music Labyrinth. As always, thanks for your company. Please join us again next week as we continue our journey. After the massive success of Melon Collie & The Infinite Sadness, the Smashing Pumpkins embarked on a slight change of direction with their next single. In what might be a theme for our activities each week here in The Music Labyrinth, lets end this show with The End Is The Beginning Is The End.
The End Is The Beginning Is The End / Smashing Pumpkins