Music Labyrinth Episode 081
Dance Hall Days / Wang Chung (1984)
Hello Listener, and welcome to episode 81 of The Music Labyrinth. Now, in 1981, the BBC released a television play called Artemis 81, and if that is not spooky enough for you, the plot centred around an occult novelist who is drawn into a battle between Helith, the Angel of Light, and Asrael, the Angel of Death. Fittingly, for a music program such as this, the character of Helith was played by Sting, who’s acting credits also include the films Quadrophenia, The Great Rock’n Roll Swindle, Dune, and - and I did not know this - Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels! So, what we’ve established is that 81 is a number that lends itself to slightly unusual music trivia, and I think we can carry on that tradition during this episode. The song that opened this episode of The Music Labyrinth was Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung, from their 1984 album Points On The Curve. Now, since we’ve started off talking about musicians in film, one of the film clips to promote Dance Hall Days featured the band dressed as characters from The Wizard Of Oz; with singer Jack Hues as the Tin Man, Nick Feldman as the Scarecrow, and Darren Costin as the Lion. Now, they say two out of three ain’t bad (and never fear, Gentle Listener; you will not be hearing that similarly named tripe by Meatloaf here in The Music Labyrinth), and I can assure you that two out of those three Wizard Of Oz characters appear in the lyrics of this 2015 tune by the delightful Kate Pierson. This is Matrix.
Matrix / Kate Pierson (2015)
That song, Matrix, is from Kate Pierson’s only solo album, Guitars & Microphones, released in 2015. The song was written by Sam Dixon and Sia. A few years before the release of her solo album Kate Pierson had contributed to an unlikely sounding concept album and rock musical about the lives of Imelda Marcos and her nanny, Estrella Cumpas. The musical was called Here Lies Love, and it was written by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim. Another contributor to that album was Sia, the co-writer of the song we just heard. So, its pretty obvious that The Music Labyrinth wants us to play this next track, also from the rock musical Here Lies Love, this is Sia with Never So Big.
Never So Big / Sia (2010)
Another contributor to the Here Lies Love rock musical that we discussed earlier was this next artist. And so, because no further explanation is required for the upcoming two tracks, lets launch into an increasingly less rare Music Labyrinth double-play.
Girls Just Want To Have Fun / Cindy Lauper (1983)
Time After Time / Iron & Wine (2016)
That version of Cindy Lauper’s Time After Time was by the American singer-songwriter and performer Samuel Beam, better known by his professional name of Iron & Wine. I think its fair to say that his breakthrough album was 2007’s The Shepherd’s Dog. Its a favourite of mine, primarily for the inclusion of this lovely song. This is Resurrection Fern.
Resurrection Fern / Iron & Wine (2007)
Here we are in The Music Labyrinth where we last listened to the beautiful Resurrection Fern by Iron & Wine. Now, I learned this week that, whilst most plants can lose only 10 percent of their water content before they die, the remarkable resurrection fern can lose about 75 percent of its water content during a typical dry period and possibly up to 97 percent in an extreme drought. During this time, it shrivels up to a grayish brown clump of leaves. When it is exposed to water again, it will “come back to life” and look green and healthy. The plant gets its name from this supposed “resurrection” but it never actually dies during the process. Similar themes were explored in 2009 on the debut album by The Temper Trap. This is their song, Resurrection.
Resurrection / Temper Trap (2009)
Temper Trap, in addition to being an ARIA Award winning Australian band, was also the name of a UK thoroughbred racehorse, born in 2017. He went on to have 9 wins from his 35 start racing career. Which led me to an interesting thought exercise about the links between racehorses, and bands, albums, and songs. In 2010 a foal was born in NSW and he went on to win more that AUD$2 million from his 21 start career. And his name was Dissident.
Dissident / Pearl Jam (1994)
That song comes from the 1994 Pearl Jam album, Vs, pronounced “versus”, as in to be in conflict, contest or contrast with something else. Of course, with a minor adjustment of spelling, that word can become “verses” as in the title of the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Slipknot: Vol 3 (The Subliminal Verses). From that album, this is Circle.
Circle / Slipknot (2004)
From their 2004 album Vol 3 (The Subliminal Verses) that was Slipknot with Circle. That album was recorded in Los Angeles in trying circumstances, mainly to do with singer Corey Taylor’s ongoing issues with alcohol abuse. I find Corey Taylor a fascinating character. He has admitted his past issues with substance abuse and addiction, yet whenever I have heard him interviewed he is so obviously an engaging, intelligent and articulate person. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed Circle. In fact, I hope you enjoyed it so much that you’d like to hear another song, also called Circle. Here is Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians.
Circle / Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians (1989)
A member of the New Bohemians, in the first years of the existence of the band, was drummer Matt Chamberlain. We’ve encountered his work before in The Music Labyrinth, as a member of The Wallflowers. In 1996, Matt Chamberlain played drums on Fiona Apple’s album Tidal. Here is an example of his work on that album. This is Criminal.
Criminal / Fiona Apple (1996)
In 2013, the American Restaurant Chain, Chipotle, released a short promotional film intending to contrast their own product against highly processed and mass produced foods. The film features an animated scarecrow in a dystopian city of caged and penned livestock. Now, the reason that I’m telling you all this is to lead into our next track. The film is set to a well known tune, re-recorded for the project by Fiona Apple. The combined effect of the animation and Fiona Apple’s version of this song is quite disturbing and very powerful in its messaging. I will include a link to the film clip on the webpage for this episode of the program. Now, I can’t play you the Fiona Apple version of the song because neither of the big streaming services offers it. So, instead, we will listen to the original. Close your eyes, imagine cute animated chickens being injected with growth hormones and cute animated cows in crates, while you listen to this.
Pure Imagination / Gene Wilder (1971)
Now, fasten your seatbelts and prepare for whiplash, because in 2014 the entire soundtrack of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was reimagined on the album Primus & The Chocolate Factory With The Fungi Ensemble by - yep - the California Masters of Odd Rock, Primus. To jog your memory, here they are with their biggest commercial success, Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver.
Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver / Primus (1995)
One of the B-side tracks on the German release of Primus’ 1995 version of Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver, was their cover of this classic song.
Have A Cigar / Pink Floyd (1975)
From their 1975 album (and my personal favourite Pink Floyd album) Wish You Were Here, that was The Floyds with Have A Cigar. Now, you would have to be paying VERY scant attention not to have picked up on the fact that the sentiment expressed in that song was particularly disparaging of the music industry - which is somewhat risky in that it is the very definition of biting the hand that feeds you. Risk or not, Morrissey and The Smiths were undeterred when they also took a significant swipe at the industry in this song about exploiting a recently deceased recording star. This is Paint A Vulgar Picture.
Paint A Vulgar Picture / The Smiths (1987)
By the time Paint A Vulgar Picture was released as part of the 1987 album, Strangeways Here We Come, The Smiths had effectively disbanded. Morrissey, however, embarked on a successful solo career from that point. In November 2018, he released a cover of this hit song.
Back On The Chain Gang / The Pretenders (1982)
That was, of course, The Pretenders, with Back On The Chain Gang. Absolutely no-one will be surprised to learn that that song contains a sample from this 1960 hit for Sam Cooke.
Chain Gang / Sam Cooke (1960)
Sam Cooke is a legend of soul music, who died at the height of his fame. In 1964 he was shot dead in an incident which an inquest ruled to be justifiable homicide, but which has been the subject of conjecture and controversy ever since. Mohammed Ali, a friend of Sam Cooke, is quoted as having said, "If Cooke had been Frank Sinatra, the Beatles or Ricky Nelson, the FBI would be investigating". So sadly, Sam Cooke’s fame is about more than his contribution to soul music. Anyway, whatever the reason, Sam Cooke is name-checked in this next song. This is John Legend, featuring Snoop Dogg, with I Can Change.
I Can Change / John Legend (feat. Snoop Dogg) (2004)
I know I use the term quite a bit, but John Legend is something of a Renaissance Man. He is a singer, songwriter, pianist, actor and record producer. He has won an Academy Award, multiple Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe, multiple Grammy Awards, a Tony Award and a whole bunch of others. In 2010 he was one of many prominent artists invited to contribute to the 46th studio album by multi-instrumentalist jazz legend Herbie Hancock. That album is called The Imagine Project, and it featured Herbie Hancock’s interpretations of many well-known songs. From that album, this is Herbie Hancock, John Legend and Pink, with a song that I suspect the Patient Listener might recognise.
Don’t Give Up / Herbie Hancock, John Legend and Pink (2010)
Welcome back to the final section of episode 81 of The Music Labyrinth. We last listened to Herbie Hancock, John Legend and Pink with - would you believe it?! - a Peter Gabriel song, Don’t Give Up. As I mentioned, that track comes from Herbie Hancock’s 46th studio album called The Imagine Project. Another track that Herbie Hancock reinterpreted on that album was this forgotten favourite from 1970.
Space Captain / Joe Cocker (1970)
That was Joe Cocker with his 1970 song, Space Captain, written by the little recognised Matthew Moore. Great song though! In 2013 a documentary film called 20 Feet From Stardom was released, following the behind-the-scenes experiences of backup singers and stars Darlene Love, Judith Hill, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Tata Vega, and Jo Lawry. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 86th Academy Awards, and an album was released of music from the motion picture. That album includes the song we just heard, and it also includes the song with which we are going to end tonight’s episode of The Music Labyrinth. As always, thank you very much for coming on the journey with me tonight, and I hope you come back in a fortnight to do it again. To take us there we have a personal favourite. Featuring the backing vocals of Ava Cherry, Robin Clark and Luther Vandross, from 1975, this is Young Americans.
Young Americans / David Bowie (1975)
Hello Listener, and welcome to episode 81 of The Music Labyrinth. Now, in 1981, the BBC released a television play called Artemis 81, and if that is not spooky enough for you, the plot centred around an occult novelist who is drawn into a battle between Helith, the Angel of Light, and Asrael, the Angel of Death. Fittingly, for a music program such as this, the character of Helith was played by Sting, who’s acting credits also include the films Quadrophenia, The Great Rock’n Roll Swindle, Dune, and - and I did not know this - Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels! So, what we’ve established is that 81 is a number that lends itself to slightly unusual music trivia, and I think we can carry on that tradition during this episode. The song that opened this episode of The Music Labyrinth was Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung, from their 1984 album Points On The Curve. Now, since we’ve started off talking about musicians in film, one of the film clips to promote Dance Hall Days featured the band dressed as characters from The Wizard Of Oz; with singer Jack Hues as the Tin Man, Nick Feldman as the Scarecrow, and Darren Costin as the Lion. Now, they say two out of three ain’t bad (and never fear, Gentle Listener; you will not be hearing that similarly named tripe by Meatloaf here in The Music Labyrinth), and I can assure you that two out of those three Wizard Of Oz characters appear in the lyrics of this 2015 tune by the delightful Kate Pierson. This is Matrix.
Matrix / Kate Pierson (2015)
That song, Matrix, is from Kate Pierson’s only solo album, Guitars & Microphones, released in 2015. The song was written by Sam Dixon and Sia. A few years before the release of her solo album Kate Pierson had contributed to an unlikely sounding concept album and rock musical about the lives of Imelda Marcos and her nanny, Estrella Cumpas. The musical was called Here Lies Love, and it was written by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim. Another contributor to that album was Sia, the co-writer of the song we just heard. So, its pretty obvious that The Music Labyrinth wants us to play this next track, also from the rock musical Here Lies Love, this is Sia with Never So Big.
Never So Big / Sia (2010)
Another contributor to the Here Lies Love rock musical that we discussed earlier was this next artist. And so, because no further explanation is required for the upcoming two tracks, lets launch into an increasingly less rare Music Labyrinth double-play.
Girls Just Want To Have Fun / Cindy Lauper (1983)
Time After Time / Iron & Wine (2016)
That version of Cindy Lauper’s Time After Time was by the American singer-songwriter and performer Samuel Beam, better known by his professional name of Iron & Wine. I think its fair to say that his breakthrough album was 2007’s The Shepherd’s Dog. Its a favourite of mine, primarily for the inclusion of this lovely song. This is Resurrection Fern.
Resurrection Fern / Iron & Wine (2007)
Here we are in The Music Labyrinth where we last listened to the beautiful Resurrection Fern by Iron & Wine. Now, I learned this week that, whilst most plants can lose only 10 percent of their water content before they die, the remarkable resurrection fern can lose about 75 percent of its water content during a typical dry period and possibly up to 97 percent in an extreme drought. During this time, it shrivels up to a grayish brown clump of leaves. When it is exposed to water again, it will “come back to life” and look green and healthy. The plant gets its name from this supposed “resurrection” but it never actually dies during the process. Similar themes were explored in 2009 on the debut album by The Temper Trap. This is their song, Resurrection.
Resurrection / Temper Trap (2009)
Temper Trap, in addition to being an ARIA Award winning Australian band, was also the name of a UK thoroughbred racehorse, born in 2017. He went on to have 9 wins from his 35 start racing career. Which led me to an interesting thought exercise about the links between racehorses, and bands, albums, and songs. In 2010 a foal was born in NSW and he went on to win more that AUD$2 million from his 21 start career. And his name was Dissident.
Dissident / Pearl Jam (1994)
That song comes from the 1994 Pearl Jam album, Vs, pronounced “versus”, as in to be in conflict, contest or contrast with something else. Of course, with a minor adjustment of spelling, that word can become “verses” as in the title of the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Slipknot: Vol 3 (The Subliminal Verses). From that album, this is Circle.
Circle / Slipknot (2004)
From their 2004 album Vol 3 (The Subliminal Verses) that was Slipknot with Circle. That album was recorded in Los Angeles in trying circumstances, mainly to do with singer Corey Taylor’s ongoing issues with alcohol abuse. I find Corey Taylor a fascinating character. He has admitted his past issues with substance abuse and addiction, yet whenever I have heard him interviewed he is so obviously an engaging, intelligent and articulate person. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed Circle. In fact, I hope you enjoyed it so much that you’d like to hear another song, also called Circle. Here is Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians.
Circle / Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians (1989)
A member of the New Bohemians, in the first years of the existence of the band, was drummer Matt Chamberlain. We’ve encountered his work before in The Music Labyrinth, as a member of The Wallflowers. In 1996, Matt Chamberlain played drums on Fiona Apple’s album Tidal. Here is an example of his work on that album. This is Criminal.
Criminal / Fiona Apple (1996)
In 2013, the American Restaurant Chain, Chipotle, released a short promotional film intending to contrast their own product against highly processed and mass produced foods. The film features an animated scarecrow in a dystopian city of caged and penned livestock. Now, the reason that I’m telling you all this is to lead into our next track. The film is set to a well known tune, re-recorded for the project by Fiona Apple. The combined effect of the animation and Fiona Apple’s version of this song is quite disturbing and very powerful in its messaging. I will include a link to the film clip on the webpage for this episode of the program. Now, I can’t play you the Fiona Apple version of the song because neither of the big streaming services offers it. So, instead, we will listen to the original. Close your eyes, imagine cute animated chickens being injected with growth hormones and cute animated cows in crates, while you listen to this.
Pure Imagination / Gene Wilder (1971)
Now, fasten your seatbelts and prepare for whiplash, because in 2014 the entire soundtrack of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was reimagined on the album Primus & The Chocolate Factory With The Fungi Ensemble by - yep - the California Masters of Odd Rock, Primus. To jog your memory, here they are with their biggest commercial success, Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver.
Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver / Primus (1995)
One of the B-side tracks on the German release of Primus’ 1995 version of Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver, was their cover of this classic song.
Have A Cigar / Pink Floyd (1975)
From their 1975 album (and my personal favourite Pink Floyd album) Wish You Were Here, that was The Floyds with Have A Cigar. Now, you would have to be paying VERY scant attention not to have picked up on the fact that the sentiment expressed in that song was particularly disparaging of the music industry - which is somewhat risky in that it is the very definition of biting the hand that feeds you. Risk or not, Morrissey and The Smiths were undeterred when they also took a significant swipe at the industry in this song about exploiting a recently deceased recording star. This is Paint A Vulgar Picture.
Paint A Vulgar Picture / The Smiths (1987)
By the time Paint A Vulgar Picture was released as part of the 1987 album, Strangeways Here We Come, The Smiths had effectively disbanded. Morrissey, however, embarked on a successful solo career from that point. In November 2018, he released a cover of this hit song.
Back On The Chain Gang / The Pretenders (1982)
That was, of course, The Pretenders, with Back On The Chain Gang. Absolutely no-one will be surprised to learn that that song contains a sample from this 1960 hit for Sam Cooke.
Chain Gang / Sam Cooke (1960)
Sam Cooke is a legend of soul music, who died at the height of his fame. In 1964 he was shot dead in an incident which an inquest ruled to be justifiable homicide, but which has been the subject of conjecture and controversy ever since. Mohammed Ali, a friend of Sam Cooke, is quoted as having said, "If Cooke had been Frank Sinatra, the Beatles or Ricky Nelson, the FBI would be investigating". So sadly, Sam Cooke’s fame is about more than his contribution to soul music. Anyway, whatever the reason, Sam Cooke is name-checked in this next song. This is John Legend, featuring Snoop Dogg, with I Can Change.
I Can Change / John Legend (feat. Snoop Dogg) (2004)
I know I use the term quite a bit, but John Legend is something of a Renaissance Man. He is a singer, songwriter, pianist, actor and record producer. He has won an Academy Award, multiple Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe, multiple Grammy Awards, a Tony Award and a whole bunch of others. In 2010 he was one of many prominent artists invited to contribute to the 46th studio album by multi-instrumentalist jazz legend Herbie Hancock. That album is called The Imagine Project, and it featured Herbie Hancock’s interpretations of many well-known songs. From that album, this is Herbie Hancock, John Legend and Pink, with a song that I suspect the Patient Listener might recognise.
Don’t Give Up / Herbie Hancock, John Legend and Pink (2010)
Welcome back to the final section of episode 81 of The Music Labyrinth. We last listened to Herbie Hancock, John Legend and Pink with - would you believe it?! - a Peter Gabriel song, Don’t Give Up. As I mentioned, that track comes from Herbie Hancock’s 46th studio album called The Imagine Project. Another track that Herbie Hancock reinterpreted on that album was this forgotten favourite from 1970.
Space Captain / Joe Cocker (1970)
That was Joe Cocker with his 1970 song, Space Captain, written by the little recognised Matthew Moore. Great song though! In 2013 a documentary film called 20 Feet From Stardom was released, following the behind-the-scenes experiences of backup singers and stars Darlene Love, Judith Hill, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Tata Vega, and Jo Lawry. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 86th Academy Awards, and an album was released of music from the motion picture. That album includes the song we just heard, and it also includes the song with which we are going to end tonight’s episode of The Music Labyrinth. As always, thank you very much for coming on the journey with me tonight, and I hope you come back in a fortnight to do it again. To take us there we have a personal favourite. Featuring the backing vocals of Ava Cherry, Robin Clark and Luther Vandross, from 1975, this is Young Americans.
Young Americans / David Bowie (1975)