Music Labyrinth Episode 070
Gone Away / Bun B (feat. Leon Bridges & Gary Clark Jr.) (2018)
Hello Listener, and welcome to episode 70 of The Music Labyrinth. This week, in considering the importance of our episode number I needed to look no further than the very helpful website www.numerologistpro.com to learn that (and I quote): The number 7 in 70 means that it is naturally interested in questions of faith and religion and has a natural interest in spirituality and universal laws. The 0 symbolizes both the cosmos, the divine, and eternity, and together with the number 7, it gives a great desire to research spiritual things. And indeed, that is what we have been doing in the preparation for this episode. After all, what research could be more spiritual than tracing the Great Interconnectivity of contemporary music? numerologistpro.com has informed me that 70 might occur in either a balanced or an unbalanced state. But as its unbalanced state causes it to be quarrelsome, problematic, judgemental and mentally chaotic, our aim tonight is to present episode 70 of this program entirely in a balanced state. And so, in order to proceed carefully and with balance, may I welcome any new listeners and let them know that what we will do for the next couple of hours is find balanced and numerologically solid facts which link the song we just played with the next song to be played. And, by way of example, let me explain that we started this episode with Bun B’s 2018 song Gone Away, which featured the multitudinous talents of Leon Bridges and Gary Clark Jr. Because those chaps are two of our favourites here at The Music Labyrinth, lets remain with that collaboration as we proceed into the Labyrinth. The year prior to hooking up with Bun B, Gary Clark Jr released an album of live recordings called Live North America 2016. One of those recordings also features the vocals of Leon Bridges. Its a song called Shake, and it sounds like this.
Shake / Gary Clark Jr (feat. Leon Bridges) (2017)
Welcome back to the extraordinarily balanced episode 70 of The Music Labyrinth. We were taken into that short break by Gary Clark Jr and Leon Bridges with Shake. In 2015 Don Cheadle directed and starred in a movie called Miles Ahead, a fictional account of part of the life of the great jazz musician Miles Davis. The final scene of the movie was a live concert performance featuring several jazz greats: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Robert Glasper. Our man Gary Clark Jr is also featured as part of that concert band. And the soundtrack of the Miles Ahead movie also included this tune.
Lowdown / Boz Scaggs (1976)
From his intergalactically successful 1976 album Silk Degrees, that was Boz Scaggs with Lowdown. Lowdown was co-written by The Boz, and David Paich of Toto, which brings us to one of the key discoveries we have made on our collective journey so far in The Music Labyrinth: It is simply staggering how many labyrinthine passageways lead back to Toto. This fact has been independently observed not only by your host, but also by GFOTML (Good Friend Of The Music Labyrinth) Rob from Buderim. Our current working theory on this phenomenon is that the entity that became Toto was the sum of some already substantial parts. The foundation members, particularly David Paich and Jeff Porcaro, were all very well established session musicians, and had played individually on many, many recording sessions before coming together as Toto. Anyway, its probably appropriate that we acknowledge their influence on what we do here. So, also co-written by David Paich, and sung by him on this occasion, here are Toto.
Rosanna / Toto (1982)
That was Toto with Rosanna. Backing vocals on that song were performed by Tom Kelly, who is also a songwriter of note, particularly in combination with Billy Steinberg. Songs penned by Kelly and Steinberg include Cindy Lauper’s True Colours, Madonna’s Like a Virgin, and this tune, which they co-wrote in 1990 with Marc McEntee and Christine Amphlett.
I Touch Myself / Divinyls (1990)
This is The Music Labyrinth and the last track we listened to was the Divinyls from 1990 with I Touch Myself. In 2019 that song was covered in for Triple J’s Like A Version by Lime Cordiale who, in 2021, teamed up with English/Sierra Leonean actor Idris Elba to produce this song.
What’s Not To Like / Lime Cordiale & Idris Elba (2021)
That was Lime Cordiale and The Dris with What’s Not To Like. Idris Elba famously played Stringer Bell in the HBO crime series The Wire. He appeared in the first two series, but it was in series 3 that Stringer Bell emerged as a key character. The theme song for The Wire was several different versions of the Tom Waits song Way Down In The Hole. In series 3, the version used was this one.
Way Down In the Hole / The Neville Brothers (2004)
That was, I am certain, the shortest song we have ever played in The Music Labyrinth, but its a good’n. It was The Neville Brothers with their version of Way Down In The Hole, which was used as the theme for series 3 of The Wire. In 1998, music producer Kim Beissel released a compilation album called Original Seeds: Songs That Inspired Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. According to the album liner notes, Way Down In The Hole was an inspiration for this song.
Red Right Hand / Nick Cave (1994)
This is The Music Labyrinth where we last listened to the magnificent Red Right Hand by Nick Cave. When the Grammy Award is struck for the Most Artful Use of a Bell in Popular Music, that song is a lay down misere to win it. We were directed to it in this episode by the compilation album Original Seeds: Songs That Inspired Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. One of those inspirational songs, according to that album, was this tune.
Loose / The Stooges (1970)
From the 1970 album Fun House, that was The Stooges with Loose. A quarter of a century later, Reef released a song also called Loose.
Loose / Reef (1995)
That was the British band, Reef, with Loose. On 2 May 2003, Reef appeared on series 2 of the BBC TV show Re:Covered, where artists were invited to perform a track of their own, and a cover version. Reef, ambitiously, took on this epic.
War Pigs / Black Sabbath (1970)
Here we are in The Music Labyrinth where we last listened to Ozzy and Geezer and the Lads (known more formally as Black Sabbath) with War Pigs. At live shows by The Arctic Monkeys, parts of War Pigs are often incorporated into this tune. This is Arabella.
Arabella / Arctic Monkeys (2013)
That was The Arctic Monkeys with Arabella. The keen-eared listener will have picked up the reference in the lyrics to a Barbarella silver swimsuit. Barbarella is a fictional character played by Jane Fonda in the 1968 film of the same name. Barbarella is also referenced in this song by Jamiroquai.
Cosmic Girl / Jamiroquai (1996)
That was the British acid-jazz and funk band Jamiroquai with their 1996 hit Cosmic Girl. Strings on that track were arranged by Gavin Wright who, two years earlier, played viola and violin on this track.
Glycerine / Bush (1994)
From their hugely successful 1994 album Sixteen Stone, that was Bush with Glycerine. In 2010 Santana released an album called Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time. On that album, guest vocalists were invited to perform cover versions of guitar hits as a vehicle for Carlos Santana’s unquestionable talents. Gavin Rosedale, the former lead singer of Bush, features on this track.
Bang A Gong / Santana (feat. Gavin Rosedale) (2010)
This is The Music Labyrinth on Coast FM and the last track we listened to was Bang A Gong by Santana and Gavin Rosedale. Bang A Gong is, of course, the Marc Bolan song Get It On, written and first recorded by Marc Bolan in 1971 for his album Electric Warrior. Backing vocals on that original version were performed by Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman of The Turtles who, four years earlier, had enjoyed a massive worldwide hit with Happy Together. In 2019, Happy Together was covered for the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy. Here is the 2019 version.
Happy Together / Gerard Way (feat. Ray Toro)
From the 2019 Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, that was Gerard Way and Ray Toro with their interpretation of the 1967 hit Happy Together. Gerard Way and Ray Toro are key members of the New Jersey band My Chemical Romance, and in 2007 they enjoyed great success with this song.
Teenagers / My Chemical Romance (2007)
Teenagers by My Chemical Romance was - believe it or not - covered by American R&B singer Macy Gray on her 2012 album Covered. I’ve had a listen to the Macy Gray version. Its fascinating. On that album Macy Gray covers all sorts of interesting songs, including Radiohead’s Creep, Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters and Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. She also covered this Arcade Fire song.
Wake Up / Arcade Fire (2005)
Here we all are, deep in the chambers of The Music Labyrinth where we last encountered Wake Up by Arcade Fire. That song was once ranked by the music magazine New Musical Express as the 25th Greatest Song of All Time. It has been played at the opening of concerts by U2 and was the New York Rangers ice hockey team’s pre-game intro song for at least one season. It also featured in the movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. So to did this song.
Maneater / Grace Mitchell (2013)
That was Grace Mitchell with her 2013 cover of a song originally by Darryl Hall & John Oates in 1982. Drums on the original version by Hall & Oates were played by Mickey Curry, who later became a member of The Cult and can be heard drumming on this track.
Fire Woman / The Cult (1989)
I think that The Cult are now my go to band when I feel the need for some 90s gothic-glam metal, which, to be quite honest, is only an occasional need. But they are a very good fit for it! That song, Fire Woman, featured in episode two of season two of the animated comedy TV show Beavis & Butthead. And so too did this song.
Weird Science / Oingo Boingo (1985)
Welcome to the final section of episode 70 of The Music Labyrinth. We arrived here via the slightly bizarre 1985 tune Weird Science by Oingo Boingo. On their 8th album in 1994, Boingo, Oingo Boingo bravely covered this track.
I Am The Walrus / The Beatles (1967)
Of course that was The Beatles (and, for those keeping score, I have put a dollar in the Beatles jar - we now have enough for a nice ice cream) with I Am The Walrus. That song, you will have noticed, is very complex in its production, containing all kinds of interesting sounds, including some dramatic dialogue which is from Act IV, Scene VI of Shakespear’s King Lear. Now, as you will know Dear Listener, I do love an opportunity to combine two of my favourite things: music and Shakespeare, and we are going to indulge in that theme to find our way to our last song in this episode. When Gary Kemp wrote a ballad about love prevailing throughout the violence and sectarianism of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, in his own words, he did not expect it to come out in the shape of a Romeo and Juliet sort of song, but it did. To end this episode of The Music Labyrinth, this is Spandau Ballet and the beautiful Through The Barricades.
Through The Barricades / Spandau Ballet (1982)
Hello Listener, and welcome to episode 70 of The Music Labyrinth. This week, in considering the importance of our episode number I needed to look no further than the very helpful website www.numerologistpro.com to learn that (and I quote): The number 7 in 70 means that it is naturally interested in questions of faith and religion and has a natural interest in spirituality and universal laws. The 0 symbolizes both the cosmos, the divine, and eternity, and together with the number 7, it gives a great desire to research spiritual things. And indeed, that is what we have been doing in the preparation for this episode. After all, what research could be more spiritual than tracing the Great Interconnectivity of contemporary music? numerologistpro.com has informed me that 70 might occur in either a balanced or an unbalanced state. But as its unbalanced state causes it to be quarrelsome, problematic, judgemental and mentally chaotic, our aim tonight is to present episode 70 of this program entirely in a balanced state. And so, in order to proceed carefully and with balance, may I welcome any new listeners and let them know that what we will do for the next couple of hours is find balanced and numerologically solid facts which link the song we just played with the next song to be played. And, by way of example, let me explain that we started this episode with Bun B’s 2018 song Gone Away, which featured the multitudinous talents of Leon Bridges and Gary Clark Jr. Because those chaps are two of our favourites here at The Music Labyrinth, lets remain with that collaboration as we proceed into the Labyrinth. The year prior to hooking up with Bun B, Gary Clark Jr released an album of live recordings called Live North America 2016. One of those recordings also features the vocals of Leon Bridges. Its a song called Shake, and it sounds like this.
Shake / Gary Clark Jr (feat. Leon Bridges) (2017)
Welcome back to the extraordinarily balanced episode 70 of The Music Labyrinth. We were taken into that short break by Gary Clark Jr and Leon Bridges with Shake. In 2015 Don Cheadle directed and starred in a movie called Miles Ahead, a fictional account of part of the life of the great jazz musician Miles Davis. The final scene of the movie was a live concert performance featuring several jazz greats: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Robert Glasper. Our man Gary Clark Jr is also featured as part of that concert band. And the soundtrack of the Miles Ahead movie also included this tune.
Lowdown / Boz Scaggs (1976)
From his intergalactically successful 1976 album Silk Degrees, that was Boz Scaggs with Lowdown. Lowdown was co-written by The Boz, and David Paich of Toto, which brings us to one of the key discoveries we have made on our collective journey so far in The Music Labyrinth: It is simply staggering how many labyrinthine passageways lead back to Toto. This fact has been independently observed not only by your host, but also by GFOTML (Good Friend Of The Music Labyrinth) Rob from Buderim. Our current working theory on this phenomenon is that the entity that became Toto was the sum of some already substantial parts. The foundation members, particularly David Paich and Jeff Porcaro, were all very well established session musicians, and had played individually on many, many recording sessions before coming together as Toto. Anyway, its probably appropriate that we acknowledge their influence on what we do here. So, also co-written by David Paich, and sung by him on this occasion, here are Toto.
Rosanna / Toto (1982)
That was Toto with Rosanna. Backing vocals on that song were performed by Tom Kelly, who is also a songwriter of note, particularly in combination with Billy Steinberg. Songs penned by Kelly and Steinberg include Cindy Lauper’s True Colours, Madonna’s Like a Virgin, and this tune, which they co-wrote in 1990 with Marc McEntee and Christine Amphlett.
I Touch Myself / Divinyls (1990)
This is The Music Labyrinth and the last track we listened to was the Divinyls from 1990 with I Touch Myself. In 2019 that song was covered in for Triple J’s Like A Version by Lime Cordiale who, in 2021, teamed up with English/Sierra Leonean actor Idris Elba to produce this song.
What’s Not To Like / Lime Cordiale & Idris Elba (2021)
That was Lime Cordiale and The Dris with What’s Not To Like. Idris Elba famously played Stringer Bell in the HBO crime series The Wire. He appeared in the first two series, but it was in series 3 that Stringer Bell emerged as a key character. The theme song for The Wire was several different versions of the Tom Waits song Way Down In The Hole. In series 3, the version used was this one.
Way Down In the Hole / The Neville Brothers (2004)
That was, I am certain, the shortest song we have ever played in The Music Labyrinth, but its a good’n. It was The Neville Brothers with their version of Way Down In The Hole, which was used as the theme for series 3 of The Wire. In 1998, music producer Kim Beissel released a compilation album called Original Seeds: Songs That Inspired Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. According to the album liner notes, Way Down In The Hole was an inspiration for this song.
Red Right Hand / Nick Cave (1994)
This is The Music Labyrinth where we last listened to the magnificent Red Right Hand by Nick Cave. When the Grammy Award is struck for the Most Artful Use of a Bell in Popular Music, that song is a lay down misere to win it. We were directed to it in this episode by the compilation album Original Seeds: Songs That Inspired Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. One of those inspirational songs, according to that album, was this tune.
Loose / The Stooges (1970)
From the 1970 album Fun House, that was The Stooges with Loose. A quarter of a century later, Reef released a song also called Loose.
Loose / Reef (1995)
That was the British band, Reef, with Loose. On 2 May 2003, Reef appeared on series 2 of the BBC TV show Re:Covered, where artists were invited to perform a track of their own, and a cover version. Reef, ambitiously, took on this epic.
War Pigs / Black Sabbath (1970)
Here we are in The Music Labyrinth where we last listened to Ozzy and Geezer and the Lads (known more formally as Black Sabbath) with War Pigs. At live shows by The Arctic Monkeys, parts of War Pigs are often incorporated into this tune. This is Arabella.
Arabella / Arctic Monkeys (2013)
That was The Arctic Monkeys with Arabella. The keen-eared listener will have picked up the reference in the lyrics to a Barbarella silver swimsuit. Barbarella is a fictional character played by Jane Fonda in the 1968 film of the same name. Barbarella is also referenced in this song by Jamiroquai.
Cosmic Girl / Jamiroquai (1996)
That was the British acid-jazz and funk band Jamiroquai with their 1996 hit Cosmic Girl. Strings on that track were arranged by Gavin Wright who, two years earlier, played viola and violin on this track.
Glycerine / Bush (1994)
From their hugely successful 1994 album Sixteen Stone, that was Bush with Glycerine. In 2010 Santana released an album called Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time. On that album, guest vocalists were invited to perform cover versions of guitar hits as a vehicle for Carlos Santana’s unquestionable talents. Gavin Rosedale, the former lead singer of Bush, features on this track.
Bang A Gong / Santana (feat. Gavin Rosedale) (2010)
This is The Music Labyrinth on Coast FM and the last track we listened to was Bang A Gong by Santana and Gavin Rosedale. Bang A Gong is, of course, the Marc Bolan song Get It On, written and first recorded by Marc Bolan in 1971 for his album Electric Warrior. Backing vocals on that original version were performed by Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman of The Turtles who, four years earlier, had enjoyed a massive worldwide hit with Happy Together. In 2019, Happy Together was covered for the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy. Here is the 2019 version.
Happy Together / Gerard Way (feat. Ray Toro)
From the 2019 Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, that was Gerard Way and Ray Toro with their interpretation of the 1967 hit Happy Together. Gerard Way and Ray Toro are key members of the New Jersey band My Chemical Romance, and in 2007 they enjoyed great success with this song.
Teenagers / My Chemical Romance (2007)
Teenagers by My Chemical Romance was - believe it or not - covered by American R&B singer Macy Gray on her 2012 album Covered. I’ve had a listen to the Macy Gray version. Its fascinating. On that album Macy Gray covers all sorts of interesting songs, including Radiohead’s Creep, Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters and Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. She also covered this Arcade Fire song.
Wake Up / Arcade Fire (2005)
Here we all are, deep in the chambers of The Music Labyrinth where we last encountered Wake Up by Arcade Fire. That song was once ranked by the music magazine New Musical Express as the 25th Greatest Song of All Time. It has been played at the opening of concerts by U2 and was the New York Rangers ice hockey team’s pre-game intro song for at least one season. It also featured in the movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. So to did this song.
Maneater / Grace Mitchell (2013)
That was Grace Mitchell with her 2013 cover of a song originally by Darryl Hall & John Oates in 1982. Drums on the original version by Hall & Oates were played by Mickey Curry, who later became a member of The Cult and can be heard drumming on this track.
Fire Woman / The Cult (1989)
I think that The Cult are now my go to band when I feel the need for some 90s gothic-glam metal, which, to be quite honest, is only an occasional need. But they are a very good fit for it! That song, Fire Woman, featured in episode two of season two of the animated comedy TV show Beavis & Butthead. And so too did this song.
Weird Science / Oingo Boingo (1985)
Welcome to the final section of episode 70 of The Music Labyrinth. We arrived here via the slightly bizarre 1985 tune Weird Science by Oingo Boingo. On their 8th album in 1994, Boingo, Oingo Boingo bravely covered this track.
I Am The Walrus / The Beatles (1967)
Of course that was The Beatles (and, for those keeping score, I have put a dollar in the Beatles jar - we now have enough for a nice ice cream) with I Am The Walrus. That song, you will have noticed, is very complex in its production, containing all kinds of interesting sounds, including some dramatic dialogue which is from Act IV, Scene VI of Shakespear’s King Lear. Now, as you will know Dear Listener, I do love an opportunity to combine two of my favourite things: music and Shakespeare, and we are going to indulge in that theme to find our way to our last song in this episode. When Gary Kemp wrote a ballad about love prevailing throughout the violence and sectarianism of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, in his own words, he did not expect it to come out in the shape of a Romeo and Juliet sort of song, but it did. To end this episode of The Music Labyrinth, this is Spandau Ballet and the beautiful Through The Barricades.
Through The Barricades / Spandau Ballet (1982)