Music Labyrinth Episode 082
Young Americans / David Bowie (1975)
Hello Listener, and welcome to episode 82 of The Music Labyrinth. 82 is the atomic number of lead, which might have taken us to any number of tracks by my favourite 70s band, Led Zeppelin, but we didn’t do that. 82 is also a significant number at the end of the Kurt Vonnegut book, Hocus Pocus, which might have taken us to a raunchy instrumental track from the 70s by the Dutch band Focus, but we haven’t done that either. Most importantly, 82 - I am assured by Wikipedia - is a happy number, which is a number which eventually reaches 1 when replaced by the sum of the square of each digit. Now, I could take you through the process as it applies to 82, but how about you just trust me that 82 is indeed a happy number and that your host will therefore do his utmost to deliver a happy episode in honour of the number. We (happily) opened this episode of The Music Labyrinth with David Bowie’s Young Americans, which comes from the 1975 album of the same name. Guitars on the Young Americans album were played by Carlos Alomar, a Puerto Rican guitarist, composer, and arranger. He is best known for his work with David Bowie from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s, but he has enjoyed collaborations with a Who’s Who of the recording industry. In 2015, Carlos Alomar was engaged by Mark Ronson to play on his album Uptown Special, and you will hear Carlos Alomar’s guitars on this track. This is called Leaving Los Feliz.
Leaving Los Feliz / Mark Ronson (feat. Kevin Parker) (2015)
That was Leaving Los Feliz by Mark Ronson, featuring the vocals of Kevin Parker of Tame Impala. Eight years earlier, Mark Ronson released his second album, called Version, which will be forever remembered for its version of Valerie by Amy Winehouse. But also from that album, this is the opening track, God Put A Smile On Your Face, featuring the the Daptone Horns.
God Put A Smile On Your Face / Mark Ronson (2007)
The Daptone Horns is a horn section best known for their association with Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. The name of the horn section, and the Dap-Kings stems from their association with the record label Daptone Records which, in 2011, published the Charles Bradley album No Time For Dreaming. The Daptone Records musicians include players who perform in several bands. Members of the Daptone Horns also feature in another instrumental band called The Menahan Street Band. From No Time For Dreaming, and featuring the Menahan Street Band, this is Charles Bradley with Stay Away.
Stay Away / Charles Bradley (feat. The Menahan Street Band)
That song, Stay Away, was written by Kurt Cobain. So was this song, which appeared on Nirvana’s Nevermind in 1991. However, lets have a listen to a cover of it from The Stereophonics’ which was a UK B-side on their 1997 single Pick A Part Thats New. This is the Kurt Cobain song, Something In The Way. *
* Please Note: Spotify does not contain the Stereophonics version of this song. The Nirvana version is included on the Spotify playlist.
Something In The Way / Stereophonics (1997)
And now, lets listen to the A-side! This is Pick A Part Thats New by The Stereophonics.
Pick A Part Thats New / The Stereophonics (1999)
The video for Pick A Part Thats New featured the members of The Stereophonics parodying the 1969 film The Italian Job, which starred Michael Caine, and featured the much-copied line, “You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off”. Now, we all recognise the reverence with which Michael Caine is held throughout and beyond the entertainment industry. Here is a little celebration of him from 1984. This is Madness.
Michael Caine / Madness (1984)
In 1981 Madness had one of their biggest commercial hits with It Must Be Love. What I did not know until this week was that that song was a cover of this 1971 original by Labi Siffre.
It Must Be Love / Labi Siffre (1971)
Lets hear some more from Labi Siffre. From his 1975 album, Remember My Song, this is I Got The…
I Got The… / Labi Siffre (1975)
Now, if you thought you recognised parts of the bass and percussion in that song, you may have heard it here.
My Name Is / Eminem (1999)
That song, from Eminem’s Slim Shady LP of 1999, was produced by Dr Dre. And, if you were listening closely, you may have heard reference in the lyrics to Nine Inch Nails. Well, later that same year, Dr Dre produced this track from Nine Inch Nails’ album The Fragile. This is Even Deeper.
Even Deeper / Nine Inch Nails (1999)
Nine Inch Nails is a band largely built around the talents of Trent Reznor who has won an Academy Award, Golden Globe Awards, and an Emmy Award for his work in music, particular in scoring music for films and TV. In 1994 he sang backing vocals on this track from Tori Amos’ album, Under The Pink. This is Past The Mission.
Past The Mission / Tori Amos (1994)
Percussion on that track was played by Brazilian percussionist Paulinho da Costa and, whilst you might be forgiven for not knowing the name, he is regarded as one of the most recorded musicians of modern times. You can hear more of his work on this next track.
Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough / Michael Jackson (1979)
Multiple elements of that song, including the opening reference to the forest having a lot of power, were sampled by another Jackson on his 1982 album Night And Day. This is Joe, of the Jackson variety, with T.V. Age.
T.V Age / Joe Jackson (1982)
Congas, bongos, timbales, orchestral bells, xylophone, miscellaneous percussion, flute, and vocals on T.V. Age was played by the American percussionist Sue Hadjopoulos who, in addition to Joe Jackson, has worked with Simple Minds, Laurie Anderson, David Byrne and Ricky Martin. And, in 1996, she played congas and percussion on this track by They Might Be Giants.
S-E-X-X-Y / They Might Be Giants (1996)
In 2017 They Might Be Giants contributed a song to the musical SpongeBob SquarePants. So to did a couple of blokes called David Bowie and Brian Eno. From SpongeBob SquarePants: Original Cast Recording, this is No Control.
No Control / Kelvin Moon Loh & Company of SpongeBob SquarePants (2017)
Brian Eno is one of popular music's most influential and innovative figures. He has described himself as a “Non-musician”. Nevertheless, he was an early member of Roxy Music, before constructing a significant body of work in music and visual arts. Here he is from a 2004 album on which he collaborated with David Byrne. The album is called Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, and this song is called Strange Overtones.
Strange Overtones / David Byrne & Brian Eno (2004)
Another of Brian Eno’s collaborations involved U2 and Luciano Pavarotti. In 1995, under the band name Passengers, they released this track.
Miss Sarejevo / Passengers (1995)
Brian Eno also shared in the writing of songs, performance and production for Damon Albarn’s wonderful 2014 album Everyday Robots. Eno’s participation is most prominent in this track from that album.
Heavy Seas of Love / Damon Albarn (2014)
In 2004 Damon Albarn contributed to the fourth album by Norman Cook under his stage name Fatboy Slim. The album was called Palookaville, and Damon Albarn can be heard on this track: Put It Back Together.
Put It Back Together / Fatboy Slim (feat. Damon Albarn) (2004)
Also on Palookaville was this cover of an old Steve Miller Band song. It features Bootsy Collins on vocals - more on him shortly.
The Joker / Fatboy Slim (feat. Bootsy Collins) (2004)
From his 2004 album, “Palookaville”, that was Fatboy Slim, featuring Bootsy Collins, with The Joker. William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American musician who began his career in the 70s with James Brown and went on to play with funk legends Parliament and Funkadelic. Rolling Stone magazine has ranked him as number 4 in the greatest bass players of all time. He has featured in plenty of collaborations with other artists, including the one we just heard with Fatboy Slim. We’re going to end this happy episode of The Music Labyrinth with another of Bootsy Collins’ collaborations, but before we do, may I thank you for your company this evening. I hope your personal happiness levels were elevated by episode 82, and I heartily urge you to come on back with some friends for episode 83 in two weeks time. To take us over that bridge, lets turn back to Bootsy Collins. In 2004, he provided backing vocals to this smash hit. Thanks for listening!
Groove Is In The Heart / Deee-Lite (2004)
Hello Listener, and welcome to episode 82 of The Music Labyrinth. 82 is the atomic number of lead, which might have taken us to any number of tracks by my favourite 70s band, Led Zeppelin, but we didn’t do that. 82 is also a significant number at the end of the Kurt Vonnegut book, Hocus Pocus, which might have taken us to a raunchy instrumental track from the 70s by the Dutch band Focus, but we haven’t done that either. Most importantly, 82 - I am assured by Wikipedia - is a happy number, which is a number which eventually reaches 1 when replaced by the sum of the square of each digit. Now, I could take you through the process as it applies to 82, but how about you just trust me that 82 is indeed a happy number and that your host will therefore do his utmost to deliver a happy episode in honour of the number. We (happily) opened this episode of The Music Labyrinth with David Bowie’s Young Americans, which comes from the 1975 album of the same name. Guitars on the Young Americans album were played by Carlos Alomar, a Puerto Rican guitarist, composer, and arranger. He is best known for his work with David Bowie from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s, but he has enjoyed collaborations with a Who’s Who of the recording industry. In 2015, Carlos Alomar was engaged by Mark Ronson to play on his album Uptown Special, and you will hear Carlos Alomar’s guitars on this track. This is called Leaving Los Feliz.
Leaving Los Feliz / Mark Ronson (feat. Kevin Parker) (2015)
That was Leaving Los Feliz by Mark Ronson, featuring the vocals of Kevin Parker of Tame Impala. Eight years earlier, Mark Ronson released his second album, called Version, which will be forever remembered for its version of Valerie by Amy Winehouse. But also from that album, this is the opening track, God Put A Smile On Your Face, featuring the the Daptone Horns.
God Put A Smile On Your Face / Mark Ronson (2007)
The Daptone Horns is a horn section best known for their association with Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. The name of the horn section, and the Dap-Kings stems from their association with the record label Daptone Records which, in 2011, published the Charles Bradley album No Time For Dreaming. The Daptone Records musicians include players who perform in several bands. Members of the Daptone Horns also feature in another instrumental band called The Menahan Street Band. From No Time For Dreaming, and featuring the Menahan Street Band, this is Charles Bradley with Stay Away.
Stay Away / Charles Bradley (feat. The Menahan Street Band)
That song, Stay Away, was written by Kurt Cobain. So was this song, which appeared on Nirvana’s Nevermind in 1991. However, lets have a listen to a cover of it from The Stereophonics’ which was a UK B-side on their 1997 single Pick A Part Thats New. This is the Kurt Cobain song, Something In The Way. *
* Please Note: Spotify does not contain the Stereophonics version of this song. The Nirvana version is included on the Spotify playlist.
Something In The Way / Stereophonics (1997)
And now, lets listen to the A-side! This is Pick A Part Thats New by The Stereophonics.
Pick A Part Thats New / The Stereophonics (1999)
The video for Pick A Part Thats New featured the members of The Stereophonics parodying the 1969 film The Italian Job, which starred Michael Caine, and featured the much-copied line, “You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off”. Now, we all recognise the reverence with which Michael Caine is held throughout and beyond the entertainment industry. Here is a little celebration of him from 1984. This is Madness.
Michael Caine / Madness (1984)
In 1981 Madness had one of their biggest commercial hits with It Must Be Love. What I did not know until this week was that that song was a cover of this 1971 original by Labi Siffre.
It Must Be Love / Labi Siffre (1971)
Lets hear some more from Labi Siffre. From his 1975 album, Remember My Song, this is I Got The…
I Got The… / Labi Siffre (1975)
Now, if you thought you recognised parts of the bass and percussion in that song, you may have heard it here.
My Name Is / Eminem (1999)
That song, from Eminem’s Slim Shady LP of 1999, was produced by Dr Dre. And, if you were listening closely, you may have heard reference in the lyrics to Nine Inch Nails. Well, later that same year, Dr Dre produced this track from Nine Inch Nails’ album The Fragile. This is Even Deeper.
Even Deeper / Nine Inch Nails (1999)
Nine Inch Nails is a band largely built around the talents of Trent Reznor who has won an Academy Award, Golden Globe Awards, and an Emmy Award for his work in music, particular in scoring music for films and TV. In 1994 he sang backing vocals on this track from Tori Amos’ album, Under The Pink. This is Past The Mission.
Past The Mission / Tori Amos (1994)
Percussion on that track was played by Brazilian percussionist Paulinho da Costa and, whilst you might be forgiven for not knowing the name, he is regarded as one of the most recorded musicians of modern times. You can hear more of his work on this next track.
Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough / Michael Jackson (1979)
Multiple elements of that song, including the opening reference to the forest having a lot of power, were sampled by another Jackson on his 1982 album Night And Day. This is Joe, of the Jackson variety, with T.V. Age.
T.V Age / Joe Jackson (1982)
Congas, bongos, timbales, orchestral bells, xylophone, miscellaneous percussion, flute, and vocals on T.V. Age was played by the American percussionist Sue Hadjopoulos who, in addition to Joe Jackson, has worked with Simple Minds, Laurie Anderson, David Byrne and Ricky Martin. And, in 1996, she played congas and percussion on this track by They Might Be Giants.
S-E-X-X-Y / They Might Be Giants (1996)
In 2017 They Might Be Giants contributed a song to the musical SpongeBob SquarePants. So to did a couple of blokes called David Bowie and Brian Eno. From SpongeBob SquarePants: Original Cast Recording, this is No Control.
No Control / Kelvin Moon Loh & Company of SpongeBob SquarePants (2017)
Brian Eno is one of popular music's most influential and innovative figures. He has described himself as a “Non-musician”. Nevertheless, he was an early member of Roxy Music, before constructing a significant body of work in music and visual arts. Here he is from a 2004 album on which he collaborated with David Byrne. The album is called Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, and this song is called Strange Overtones.
Strange Overtones / David Byrne & Brian Eno (2004)
Another of Brian Eno’s collaborations involved U2 and Luciano Pavarotti. In 1995, under the band name Passengers, they released this track.
Miss Sarejevo / Passengers (1995)
Brian Eno also shared in the writing of songs, performance and production for Damon Albarn’s wonderful 2014 album Everyday Robots. Eno’s participation is most prominent in this track from that album.
Heavy Seas of Love / Damon Albarn (2014)
In 2004 Damon Albarn contributed to the fourth album by Norman Cook under his stage name Fatboy Slim. The album was called Palookaville, and Damon Albarn can be heard on this track: Put It Back Together.
Put It Back Together / Fatboy Slim (feat. Damon Albarn) (2004)
Also on Palookaville was this cover of an old Steve Miller Band song. It features Bootsy Collins on vocals - more on him shortly.
The Joker / Fatboy Slim (feat. Bootsy Collins) (2004)
From his 2004 album, “Palookaville”, that was Fatboy Slim, featuring Bootsy Collins, with The Joker. William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American musician who began his career in the 70s with James Brown and went on to play with funk legends Parliament and Funkadelic. Rolling Stone magazine has ranked him as number 4 in the greatest bass players of all time. He has featured in plenty of collaborations with other artists, including the one we just heard with Fatboy Slim. We’re going to end this happy episode of The Music Labyrinth with another of Bootsy Collins’ collaborations, but before we do, may I thank you for your company this evening. I hope your personal happiness levels were elevated by episode 82, and I heartily urge you to come on back with some friends for episode 83 in two weeks time. To take us over that bridge, lets turn back to Bootsy Collins. In 2004, he provided backing vocals to this smash hit. Thanks for listening!
Groove Is In The Heart / Deee-Lite (2004)