Music Labyrinth Episode 072
Drive / Martha & The Muffins (2010)
Hello Listener, and welcome to episode 72 of The Music Labyrinth. If its your first time with us, an extra special welcome to you, and extra special thanks for coming along for the ride. What I am about to do shortly is to find a song which is linked to the one that opened this episode, and then find a third song which links to the second one, and so on through the 26 songs we have lined up for this episode. So, 26 songs means that there is no time for lengthy, complicated introductions this time around. I will just observe that the excellent English band Turin Brakes has a song called Emergency 72, which I have completely failed to build into this episode. 72 is also the number of languages said to have been spoken at the Tower of Babylon, and whilst I am in some awe at the multi-lingual nature of that place and time, we’ll try and restrict tonight’s program to less than that number of languages. Our opening song, Drive, comes from the 2010 album Delicate: the eighth studio album from Canadian band, Martha & The Muffins. The album was the band's first full-length release of new material in 18 years. Of course, 31 years before the album Delicate, came this …
Echo Beach / Martha & The Muffins (1979)
The Canadian radio program, 50 Tracks, which aired in Canada in 2004 and 2005 was a listener vote to determine the 50 most “essential” songs in pop music history. The 2004 edition of the series concentrated on pop music from anywhere in the world, while the 2005 edition concentrated solely on Canadian music. Echo Beach was number 35 on the 50 Tracks list of most essential Canadian songs. Number 16 was this song, New Orleans Is Sinking by The Tragically Hip.
New Orleans Is Sinking / The Tragically Hip (1989)
Welcome back to The Music Labyrinth, where we last heard New Orleans Is Sinking by The Tragically Hip. In 2017 the lead singer of The Tragically Hip, Gord Downie, died from brain cancer, and the band went into a period of hiatus. When they emerged from that, they performed at the 2021 Juno Awards, with lead vocals by the female Canadian singer Leslie Feist, who is professionally known by her surname. In 2007 Feist and Australian singer and songwriter Sally Seltmann had written a song which Feist recorded and which went on to break into the US top ten and win a Grammy Award. This is that song: 1234.
1234 / Feist (2007)
From her 2007 album, The Reminder, that was Feist with 1234. In 2001, Feist had linked up with the Canadian musical collective Broken Social Scene, and in 2010 she contributed to the album Forgiveness Rock Record by Broken Social Scene. From that album, this is Sweetest Kill.
Sweetest Kill / Broken Social Scene (2010)
From their 2010 album Forgiveness Rock Record, that was Broken Social Scene with Sweetest Kill. In 2009 Broken Social Scene contributed a song to the soundtrack of the movie The Time Traveller’s Wife. It was a cover version of this song.
Love Will Tear Us Apart / Joy Division (1980)
This is The Music Labyrinth, and we last listened to Joy Division with their massive 1980 hit Love Will Tear Us Apart. When I was hunting around for our next link, I found a song which contains a big old sample of Love Will Tear Us Apart. I listened to the song and loved it, and I wanted it in this episode. However, it was only when I was laying out the tracks for this episode that I discovered that it runs for 12 and a half minutes! I agonised over how to manage this, and in the end decided that I needed to try and edit it down to a more radio friendly duration. So, with my great apologies to Sufjan Stevens for being ham-fisted with his excellent work, I present my clumsily edited version for you now. Please be aware that the playlists for tonight’s episode will contain the full length track, and I urge you to give it a listen because it is quite lovely. This is Christmas Unicorn.
Christmas Unicorn / Sufjan Stevens (2012)
That was Sufjan Stevens with Christmas Unicorn. And, if you are going to have one track in your show about unicorns, why would you not have two?
White Unicorn / Wolfmother (2006)
Here we are just departing the unicorn habitat of The Music Labyrinth, and that was Wolfmother with White Unicorn. In 2006, when that song was released, the music reviewer SM Shepherd from www.musicOHM.com wrote that the song: takes the opening few chords of Zeppelin's Ramble On and stuffs them in an overhead compartment and takes them on voyage through the clouds. Well, who am I to argue? Here, for your own consideration, is Ramble On, by Led Zeppelin.
Ramble On / Led Zeppelin (1969)
In 2008, that song, Ramble On, was covered by Rick Derringer for the 2008 tribute album Led Box: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Tribute. Derringer is an American guitarist, who has had a long career, but is perhaps best known from the start of it, as a founding member of The McCoys, who had this hit in 1965.
Hang On Sloopy / The McCoys (1965)
From 1965, that was The McCoys with Hang On Sloopy. Now, I would not normally have steered us on the course we are about to take, and I apologise for the extremely high DPSI factor (Dags Per Square Inch) that I am about to inflict on you. But you are probably thinking that you have heard that bass line from Hang On Sloopy in some other context. And you are right.
Summer Nights / John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (1976)
Yes, you are not mistaken! We ARE in The Music Labyrinth and I am as surprised as anyone to have encountered Summer Nights from Grease in our meanderings. I sincerely apologise. One of the (limited number of) delightful things about that song is that one of the backing vocalists is Vanetta Fields, who has a long career in the music industry in the US, and in Australia where she is associated with Richard Clapton, John Farnham, Jo Jo Zep, Jimmy Barnes and Australian Crawl. But Vanetta Fields has hung with the Big Hitters. She was an Ike-ette, and has performed and recorded with Pink Floyd, Humble Pie, Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond and Steely Dan. And you will hear her singing backing vocals on this VERY much under-rated Rolling Stones hit of 1972. This is Shine A Light.
Shine A Light / Rolling Stones (1972)
From their 1972 album Exile On Main Street, that was The Rolling Stones with Shine A Light. Four decades later, the Wallflowers also proposed shining a light in this song from 2012.
Have Mercy On Him Now / The Wallflowers (2012)
From their 2012 album, Glad All Over, that was The Wallflowers with Have Mercy On Him Now. Rami Jaffee, of The Wallflowers, plays keyboards on this 2013 song by Joseph Arthur.
Famous Friends Along The Coast / Joseph Arthur (2013)
From his 2013 concept album called The Ballad Of Boogie Christ, that was Jospeh Arthur with Famous Friends Along The Coast. Slide guitar and backing vocals on that track were performed by the wonderful Ben Harper. In 2018 Ben Harper teamed up with the famous blues harp player Charlie Musselwhite (more on him shortly) for their second album together, called No Mercy In This Land. Here is the title track.
No Mercy In This Land / Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite (2018)
Welcome back to The Music Labyrinth where we last listened to Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite with No Mercy In This Land. Charlie Musselwhite was born in 1944 in Kosciusko, Mississippi (And, yes, that city and the tallest mountain on mainland Australia are both named for the Polish General Andrew Thaddeus Bonaventure Kosciuszko). He (Charlie Mussselwhite, not the General) has played and recorded with pretty much everybody, including - as we have heard - Ben Harper, but also Bonnie Raitt, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tom Waits, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Dr. John. In fact, music folklore suggests that the fictional musician Elwood Blues (played by Dan Ackroyd in The Blues Brothers) was based on Charlie Musselwhite. Here he is, from 1990, with INXS.
Who Pays The Price / INXS (1990)
From their 1990 album X (marking ten years in the music caper) that was INXS with Who Pays The Price. That song and the album X were produced by Chris Thomas, who - as a very young musician - played the harpsichord on this track.
Piggies / The Beatles (1968)
That was The Beatles with Piggies. And for those playing along at home I have put another dollar in the Beatles jar. By my reckoning, we now have enough capital there for a couple of flat whites. The track Piggies, just because of the name, put me very much in mind of the 1980s Australian percussion-dance band Big Pig who left us a great legacy, even if you only include this 1987 hit on their tally sheet. This is Hungry Town.
Hungry Town / Big Pig (1987)
From their famously titled 1987 album, Bonk, that was Big Pig with Hungry Town. Big Pig were fascinating in that the idea for the band originated with the Japanese art of Taiko Drumming. At times, Big Pig had up to 9 drummers and percussionists on stage. That song, Hungry Town, featured in the soundtrack of the 1988 Yahoo Serious movie Young Einstein, as did this tune.
Dumb Things / Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls (1987)
This is The Music Labyrinth, and the last song we tapped our toes along with was Dumb Things by Paul Kelly and The Coloured Girls. Not long after that album, Paul Kelly’s backing band, who were named after a lyric in Lou Reed’s Take A Walk On The Wild Side, changed its name to The Messengers because of the uncomfortable racial implications of the former name. A key member of that backing band, on harmonica and baritone sax, was the legendary Melbourne musician Chris Wilson. More on him shortly, but first, here is one of my favourites of his songs. This is Medicine Man.
Medicine Man / Chris Wilson (1998)
From his 1998 album The Long Weekend, that was Chris Wilson with Medicine Man. Chris Wilson died too soon in 2019 after having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He is an underrated giant of Australian music. In 1992, when Chris Wilson was playing with his band Crown Of Thorns, the music journalist Laurie White, after seeing one show, wrote: “(I saw) their gig at Tilley's which a privileged few will remember for an age”. White went on to describe Chris Wilson as: “a huge writhing gospel cyber punk, [who] sings and plays harp with such venom and power it's impossible to ignore him”. In 1996 Chris Wilson collaborated with Mark Lizotte (known then as Diesel). Here they are as Wilson Diesel with I Cant Stand The Rain.
I Can’t Stand The Rain / Wilson Diesel (1996)
That was Wilson Diesel with I Cant Stand The Rain. That song is something of a sould classic now. It was written and first recorded in 1973 by Anne Peebles, who had a hit in 1972 with this next song. This is a 2019 version of I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down.
I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down / Stone Foundation & Graham Parker (2019)
This is The Music Labyrinth, and just before that short break that was Stone Foundation and Graham Parker with their version of Anne Peebles’ I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down. Stone Foundation are a UK based soul band who have been around since 1998. They have collaborated with Graham Parker (obviously!), Paul Weller, Mick Talbot, and - in 2017 - with Bettye LaVette on this track, Season Of Change.
Season of Change / Stone Foundation (feat. Bettye LaVette) (2017)
From their 2017 album Street Rituals, that was Stone Foundation, featuring Bettye LaVette with Season Of Change. Bettye LaVette has been in the music caper since 1962, but it’s fair to say that she shot to prominence with her performance of The Who song Love Reign O’er Me at the Kennedy Centre Induction Awards in 2008. In 2010 Bettye LaVette released Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook, which included her interpretation of a 1979 Led Zeppelin song. This is Betty LaVette with All My Love.
All My Love / Bettye LaVette (2010)
That was Bettye LaVette with her interpretation of the Led Zeppelin song All My Love. All My Love was written by Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, which makes it one of the few Zeppelin songs which includes John Paul Jones as a songwriter without any songwriting credit to Jimmy Page. John Paul Jones is the quiet achiever of the great rock band Led Zeppelin, which sometimes shifts attention from his obvious virtuosity as a musician. Here he is, from 2013, with Seasick Steve.
Down On The Farm / Seasick Steve (2013)
On The Music Labyrinth that was Seasick Steve with Down On The Farm. John Paul Jones played the bass on that track, and also contributed mandolin, lap steel ukelele, keyboards and vocals to other tracks on the album. And it will be John Paul Jones who will take us to our final tune in this episode of The Music Labyrinth. As always, thank you very much for your company during this episode. Its an absolute pleasure to compile and present these tracks each fortnight. Please come back again in two weeks when this next song will be our starting point for episode 73 of The Music Labyrinth. In 2009 John Paul Jones joined Josh Homme (from Queens Of The Stoneage) and Dave Grohl (of Nirvana and The Foo Fighters) in a supergroup called Them Crooked Vultures. From their eponymous 2009 album, here are Them Crooked Vultures with New Fang. Thanks for listening.
New Fang / Them Crooked Vultures (2009)
Hello Listener, and welcome to episode 72 of The Music Labyrinth. If its your first time with us, an extra special welcome to you, and extra special thanks for coming along for the ride. What I am about to do shortly is to find a song which is linked to the one that opened this episode, and then find a third song which links to the second one, and so on through the 26 songs we have lined up for this episode. So, 26 songs means that there is no time for lengthy, complicated introductions this time around. I will just observe that the excellent English band Turin Brakes has a song called Emergency 72, which I have completely failed to build into this episode. 72 is also the number of languages said to have been spoken at the Tower of Babylon, and whilst I am in some awe at the multi-lingual nature of that place and time, we’ll try and restrict tonight’s program to less than that number of languages. Our opening song, Drive, comes from the 2010 album Delicate: the eighth studio album from Canadian band, Martha & The Muffins. The album was the band's first full-length release of new material in 18 years. Of course, 31 years before the album Delicate, came this …
Echo Beach / Martha & The Muffins (1979)
The Canadian radio program, 50 Tracks, which aired in Canada in 2004 and 2005 was a listener vote to determine the 50 most “essential” songs in pop music history. The 2004 edition of the series concentrated on pop music from anywhere in the world, while the 2005 edition concentrated solely on Canadian music. Echo Beach was number 35 on the 50 Tracks list of most essential Canadian songs. Number 16 was this song, New Orleans Is Sinking by The Tragically Hip.
New Orleans Is Sinking / The Tragically Hip (1989)
Welcome back to The Music Labyrinth, where we last heard New Orleans Is Sinking by The Tragically Hip. In 2017 the lead singer of The Tragically Hip, Gord Downie, died from brain cancer, and the band went into a period of hiatus. When they emerged from that, they performed at the 2021 Juno Awards, with lead vocals by the female Canadian singer Leslie Feist, who is professionally known by her surname. In 2007 Feist and Australian singer and songwriter Sally Seltmann had written a song which Feist recorded and which went on to break into the US top ten and win a Grammy Award. This is that song: 1234.
1234 / Feist (2007)
From her 2007 album, The Reminder, that was Feist with 1234. In 2001, Feist had linked up with the Canadian musical collective Broken Social Scene, and in 2010 she contributed to the album Forgiveness Rock Record by Broken Social Scene. From that album, this is Sweetest Kill.
Sweetest Kill / Broken Social Scene (2010)
From their 2010 album Forgiveness Rock Record, that was Broken Social Scene with Sweetest Kill. In 2009 Broken Social Scene contributed a song to the soundtrack of the movie The Time Traveller’s Wife. It was a cover version of this song.
Love Will Tear Us Apart / Joy Division (1980)
This is The Music Labyrinth, and we last listened to Joy Division with their massive 1980 hit Love Will Tear Us Apart. When I was hunting around for our next link, I found a song which contains a big old sample of Love Will Tear Us Apart. I listened to the song and loved it, and I wanted it in this episode. However, it was only when I was laying out the tracks for this episode that I discovered that it runs for 12 and a half minutes! I agonised over how to manage this, and in the end decided that I needed to try and edit it down to a more radio friendly duration. So, with my great apologies to Sufjan Stevens for being ham-fisted with his excellent work, I present my clumsily edited version for you now. Please be aware that the playlists for tonight’s episode will contain the full length track, and I urge you to give it a listen because it is quite lovely. This is Christmas Unicorn.
Christmas Unicorn / Sufjan Stevens (2012)
That was Sufjan Stevens with Christmas Unicorn. And, if you are going to have one track in your show about unicorns, why would you not have two?
White Unicorn / Wolfmother (2006)
Here we are just departing the unicorn habitat of The Music Labyrinth, and that was Wolfmother with White Unicorn. In 2006, when that song was released, the music reviewer SM Shepherd from www.musicOHM.com wrote that the song: takes the opening few chords of Zeppelin's Ramble On and stuffs them in an overhead compartment and takes them on voyage through the clouds. Well, who am I to argue? Here, for your own consideration, is Ramble On, by Led Zeppelin.
Ramble On / Led Zeppelin (1969)
In 2008, that song, Ramble On, was covered by Rick Derringer for the 2008 tribute album Led Box: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Tribute. Derringer is an American guitarist, who has had a long career, but is perhaps best known from the start of it, as a founding member of The McCoys, who had this hit in 1965.
Hang On Sloopy / The McCoys (1965)
From 1965, that was The McCoys with Hang On Sloopy. Now, I would not normally have steered us on the course we are about to take, and I apologise for the extremely high DPSI factor (Dags Per Square Inch) that I am about to inflict on you. But you are probably thinking that you have heard that bass line from Hang On Sloopy in some other context. And you are right.
Summer Nights / John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (1976)
Yes, you are not mistaken! We ARE in The Music Labyrinth and I am as surprised as anyone to have encountered Summer Nights from Grease in our meanderings. I sincerely apologise. One of the (limited number of) delightful things about that song is that one of the backing vocalists is Vanetta Fields, who has a long career in the music industry in the US, and in Australia where she is associated with Richard Clapton, John Farnham, Jo Jo Zep, Jimmy Barnes and Australian Crawl. But Vanetta Fields has hung with the Big Hitters. She was an Ike-ette, and has performed and recorded with Pink Floyd, Humble Pie, Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond and Steely Dan. And you will hear her singing backing vocals on this VERY much under-rated Rolling Stones hit of 1972. This is Shine A Light.
Shine A Light / Rolling Stones (1972)
From their 1972 album Exile On Main Street, that was The Rolling Stones with Shine A Light. Four decades later, the Wallflowers also proposed shining a light in this song from 2012.
Have Mercy On Him Now / The Wallflowers (2012)
From their 2012 album, Glad All Over, that was The Wallflowers with Have Mercy On Him Now. Rami Jaffee, of The Wallflowers, plays keyboards on this 2013 song by Joseph Arthur.
Famous Friends Along The Coast / Joseph Arthur (2013)
From his 2013 concept album called The Ballad Of Boogie Christ, that was Jospeh Arthur with Famous Friends Along The Coast. Slide guitar and backing vocals on that track were performed by the wonderful Ben Harper. In 2018 Ben Harper teamed up with the famous blues harp player Charlie Musselwhite (more on him shortly) for their second album together, called No Mercy In This Land. Here is the title track.
No Mercy In This Land / Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite (2018)
Welcome back to The Music Labyrinth where we last listened to Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite with No Mercy In This Land. Charlie Musselwhite was born in 1944 in Kosciusko, Mississippi (And, yes, that city and the tallest mountain on mainland Australia are both named for the Polish General Andrew Thaddeus Bonaventure Kosciuszko). He (Charlie Mussselwhite, not the General) has played and recorded with pretty much everybody, including - as we have heard - Ben Harper, but also Bonnie Raitt, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tom Waits, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Dr. John. In fact, music folklore suggests that the fictional musician Elwood Blues (played by Dan Ackroyd in The Blues Brothers) was based on Charlie Musselwhite. Here he is, from 1990, with INXS.
Who Pays The Price / INXS (1990)
From their 1990 album X (marking ten years in the music caper) that was INXS with Who Pays The Price. That song and the album X were produced by Chris Thomas, who - as a very young musician - played the harpsichord on this track.
Piggies / The Beatles (1968)
That was The Beatles with Piggies. And for those playing along at home I have put another dollar in the Beatles jar. By my reckoning, we now have enough capital there for a couple of flat whites. The track Piggies, just because of the name, put me very much in mind of the 1980s Australian percussion-dance band Big Pig who left us a great legacy, even if you only include this 1987 hit on their tally sheet. This is Hungry Town.
Hungry Town / Big Pig (1987)
From their famously titled 1987 album, Bonk, that was Big Pig with Hungry Town. Big Pig were fascinating in that the idea for the band originated with the Japanese art of Taiko Drumming. At times, Big Pig had up to 9 drummers and percussionists on stage. That song, Hungry Town, featured in the soundtrack of the 1988 Yahoo Serious movie Young Einstein, as did this tune.
Dumb Things / Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls (1987)
This is The Music Labyrinth, and the last song we tapped our toes along with was Dumb Things by Paul Kelly and The Coloured Girls. Not long after that album, Paul Kelly’s backing band, who were named after a lyric in Lou Reed’s Take A Walk On The Wild Side, changed its name to The Messengers because of the uncomfortable racial implications of the former name. A key member of that backing band, on harmonica and baritone sax, was the legendary Melbourne musician Chris Wilson. More on him shortly, but first, here is one of my favourites of his songs. This is Medicine Man.
Medicine Man / Chris Wilson (1998)
From his 1998 album The Long Weekend, that was Chris Wilson with Medicine Man. Chris Wilson died too soon in 2019 after having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He is an underrated giant of Australian music. In 1992, when Chris Wilson was playing with his band Crown Of Thorns, the music journalist Laurie White, after seeing one show, wrote: “(I saw) their gig at Tilley's which a privileged few will remember for an age”. White went on to describe Chris Wilson as: “a huge writhing gospel cyber punk, [who] sings and plays harp with such venom and power it's impossible to ignore him”. In 1996 Chris Wilson collaborated with Mark Lizotte (known then as Diesel). Here they are as Wilson Diesel with I Cant Stand The Rain.
I Can’t Stand The Rain / Wilson Diesel (1996)
That was Wilson Diesel with I Cant Stand The Rain. That song is something of a sould classic now. It was written and first recorded in 1973 by Anne Peebles, who had a hit in 1972 with this next song. This is a 2019 version of I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down.
I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down / Stone Foundation & Graham Parker (2019)
This is The Music Labyrinth, and just before that short break that was Stone Foundation and Graham Parker with their version of Anne Peebles’ I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down. Stone Foundation are a UK based soul band who have been around since 1998. They have collaborated with Graham Parker (obviously!), Paul Weller, Mick Talbot, and - in 2017 - with Bettye LaVette on this track, Season Of Change.
Season of Change / Stone Foundation (feat. Bettye LaVette) (2017)
From their 2017 album Street Rituals, that was Stone Foundation, featuring Bettye LaVette with Season Of Change. Bettye LaVette has been in the music caper since 1962, but it’s fair to say that she shot to prominence with her performance of The Who song Love Reign O’er Me at the Kennedy Centre Induction Awards in 2008. In 2010 Bettye LaVette released Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook, which included her interpretation of a 1979 Led Zeppelin song. This is Betty LaVette with All My Love.
All My Love / Bettye LaVette (2010)
That was Bettye LaVette with her interpretation of the Led Zeppelin song All My Love. All My Love was written by Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, which makes it one of the few Zeppelin songs which includes John Paul Jones as a songwriter without any songwriting credit to Jimmy Page. John Paul Jones is the quiet achiever of the great rock band Led Zeppelin, which sometimes shifts attention from his obvious virtuosity as a musician. Here he is, from 2013, with Seasick Steve.
Down On The Farm / Seasick Steve (2013)
On The Music Labyrinth that was Seasick Steve with Down On The Farm. John Paul Jones played the bass on that track, and also contributed mandolin, lap steel ukelele, keyboards and vocals to other tracks on the album. And it will be John Paul Jones who will take us to our final tune in this episode of The Music Labyrinth. As always, thank you very much for your company during this episode. Its an absolute pleasure to compile and present these tracks each fortnight. Please come back again in two weeks when this next song will be our starting point for episode 73 of The Music Labyrinth. In 2009 John Paul Jones joined Josh Homme (from Queens Of The Stoneage) and Dave Grohl (of Nirvana and The Foo Fighters) in a supergroup called Them Crooked Vultures. From their eponymous 2009 album, here are Them Crooked Vultures with New Fang. Thanks for listening.
New Fang / Them Crooked Vultures (2009)