Music Labyrinth Episode 096
Money / Pink Floyd (1973)
Hello Listener, and welcome to episode 96 of The Music Labyrinth. I’m sure many of you will remember that Number 96 was an Australian evening TV soap opera which aired at 8.30pm every weeknight between 1972 and 1977. The series was ground-breaking because it used controversial characters and storylines to challenge the norms of 1970s Australian society. I suppose, when I think about it (and I’ve been doing a bit of that this week), Number 96 set something of a precedent in commercial evening TV in the demonstration that ratings could be achieved by confronting and shocking the viewing audience. If you accept that premise, you might also accept that the model is still being used to this day and that contemporary “reality” TV shows are really just the Number 96s of the early 21st Century. The only immediate point of difference appears to be that Number 96 engaged the services of professional scriptwriters and actors, whereas “reality” TV has dispensed with that hindrance. Anyway, as far as The Music Labyrinth is concerned, I suppose the lesson for us is that as much as everything changes it stays the same and we might as well just relax and enjoy the ride. And I hope you will enjoy the ride into The Music Labyrinth tonight. We started off with the 50 years and 23 days old Money, from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon. I could spend the next two hours spelling out the awards and platitudes that album and the band have received, but lets restrict ourselves to just one of them. The Polar Music Awards (often called the Nobel Prize of Music) is awarded for significant achievements in music and/or musical activity, or for achievements which are found to be of great potential importance for music or musical activity. In 2008 Pink Floyd received the award for their monumental contribution over the decades to the fusion of art and music in the development of popular culture. Other recipients of the Polar Music Award include Peter Gabriel (just sayin’), Led Zeppelin and Stevie Wonder; and, in 2010, this singer.
Big Time Sensuality / Bjork (1993)
That, of course, was Bjork with Big Time Sensuality. When I was researching Bjork, I found one of the most remarkable cover versions I have ever heard, and just had to share it with you. With their unique take on Bjork’s song, Human Bahaviour, this is Joe Camilleri (yep!) and Nicky Bomba (more on him shortly).
Human Behaviour / Joe Camilleri & Nicky Bomba (2005)
That was Joe Camilleri and Nicky Bomba with their 2005 cover of the Bjork hit, Human Behaviour. I think that “bizarre” perhaps best sums that up. I’d like to have been at that particular planning meeting. Anyway, I find the result strangely compelling. Nicky Bomba is a successful musician in his own right, but perhaps best known world wide as the percussionist in this highly successful Australian trio of the 1990s.
Betterman / John Butler Trio (2001)
That was the John Butler Trio with their 2001 hit, Betterman. Also called Better Man, and released the following year, is this track by Oasis.
Better Man / Oasis (2002)
That was Oasis, from their album Heathen Chemistry, with Better Man. And, of course, we are all aware of the moral convention which requires that, at any time someone introduces the concept of better man, this track must be played.
Better Man / Pearl Jam (1994)
From their 1994 album Vitalogy, that was Pearl Jam with Better Man. The year after the release of that track, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam went off and hooked up with Layne Staley of Alice In Chains and other established musicians to form the supergroup Mad Season. Their biggest hit was this track, called River Of Deceit.
River Of Deceit / Mad Season (1995)
That was River Of Deceit by Mad Season. As I mentioned earlier, Mad Season included the singer Layne Staley from Alice In Chains. Here they are with Man In The Box.
Man In The Box / Alice In Chains (1990)
That was Man In The Box by the Seattle heavy grunge band Alice In Chains. That song is included in an Apple Music album called Rock Classico. This next track is also included on the Rock Classico album - which is great to establish our link, but I do feel obliged to reveal that Rock Classico contains 79 tracks, including (bizarrely) Making Love Out Of Nothing At All by Air Supply! So, whilst our link to this next track is absolutely rock solid, it is hardly unique. Here is the Patti Smith Group with Dancing Barefoot.
Dancing Barefoot / Patti Smith Group (1979)
That song, Dancing Barefoot, is from the 1979 Patti Smith Group album Wave, which also contained a cover of this song.
So You Want To Be A Rock ‘n’ Roll Star / The Byrds (1967)
That was The Byrds with So You Want To Be A Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, which was allegedly written in response to the success of manufactured-for-TV bands like The Monkees. Anyway, it was easy for The Byrds to be poking fun at the industry, because they were already rock ‘n’ roll stars, courtesy of their cover of this Bob Dylan song, which they had released to great commercial success two years earlier.
Mr Tambourine Man / The Byrds (1965)
This is The Music Labyrinth and we last listened to The Byrds with their massive 1965 hit, Mr Tambourine Man. That song, is one of three songs that occur twice in Rolling Stones Magazine’s list of the Top 500 Songs Of All Time. The Byrds' version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" was listed as the number 79, and Dylan's version was ranked number 106. We have previously played one of the other songs to feature twice in that list, and that was "Walk This Way" by both Aerosmith and Run-DMC. So, I think we need to complete that trifecta. The remaining song to appear twice in that Rolling Stones Magazine list is this one.
Blue Suede Shoes / Carl Perkins (1956)
That was Carl Perkins 1956 version of Blue Suede Shoes, which was included at number 95 in Rolling Stones Magazine’s list of the Top 500 Songs Of All Time. Elvis Presley’s version, also released in 1956, comes in at number 423. Blue Suede Shoes has presented me with the opportunity to bring you a rare double link into our next track. Not only will you hear a reference to Blue Suede Shoes in the opening lines of this next song, but the name of the band performing the tune is based on the children’s rhyme, One For Sorrow, which goes (in part) “One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy…” which is a very similar lyrical structure to Blue Suede Shoes with its “One for the money, two for the show…” lyric. Here are Counting Crows.
Good Time / Counting Crows (2002)
Good Time by Counting Crows comes from their 2002 album Hard Candy, which is perhaps most famous for the cover version it contained of Joni MItchell’s Big Yellow Taxi which attracted “forthright” opinions. If you have a spare few minutes some time the Wikipedia entry about the song (here - see the section marked “Reception”) is well worth a look. Big Yellow Taxi was included on Hard Candy as a hidden track - not listed on the label or album notes, but tucked in after the last track on the album. Hidden tracks are not unusual in contemporary music, and several have gone on to considerable commercial success, such as this one.
Cant Take My Eyes Off Of You / Lauryn Hill (1998)
That version of Cant Take My Eyes Off Of You was included as a hidden track on Lauryn Hill’s massive 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and subsequently went on to be nominated for a Grammy Award. Another hidden track was tucked in behind a song we have already played in this very episode. You will recall we played Better Man by Oasis, from their 2002 album Heathen Chemistry. Well, on most versions of that album Better Man was followed by 30 minutes of silence, and then this track which was unlisted. This is The Cage.
The Cage / Oasis (2002)
In The Music Labyrinth we last listened to the brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher as part of Oasis, with the song The Cage. In 2021 Noel Gallagher teamed up with Ron Wood of The Rollling Stones and the Irish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Imelda May to produce this tune. This is called Just One Kiss.
Just One Kiss / Imelda May & Noel Gallagher (feat. Ron Wood) (2021)
That was Just One Kiss by Imelda May and Noel Gallagher, and featuring Ron Wood. In 2019 the film Fisherman’s Friends was released, a light hearted story about a bunch of Cornish fishermen who enjoyed a good tune. That movie spawned a stage musical and a sequel, Fisherman’s Friends: One And All. Imelda May contributed to the soundtrack of the sequel, with this quite delightful cover of an old Jeff Back hit from 1967.
Hi Ho Silver Lining / The Fisherman’s Friends (feat. Imelda May) (2022)
Also included in the soundtrack to Fisherman’s Friends: One And All was a cover of this 1966 hit for the Beach Boys.
Sloop John B / The Beach Boys (1966)
On The Music Labyrinth that was, of course, The Beach Boys with Sloop John B. You will have noticed that the action in Sloop John B takes place around Nassau town. Nassau is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas, and is famed for many reasons, including as the location of James Bond films and the Beatles film, Help. In 1971, the Nassau based funk band The Beginning Of The End, recorded a tribute to the place. This is Funky Nassau, Part 1.
Funky Nassau, Pt 1 / The Beginning Of The End (1971)
In The Music Labyrinth the last song we heard was Funky Nassau, Part 1 by the Nassau based funk band The Beginning Of The End. That song enjoyed a relatively recent surge in popularity, courtesy of its inclusion in the movie soundtrack Blues Brothers 2000, which also included this song.
634-5789 (Soulsville USA) / Wilson Pickett (1966)
That song, by Wilson Pickett, is called 634-5789 (Soulsville, USA) and is quite clearly about reaching out for some social contact via the telephone. Now, you know where we are taking this, dont you. Straight to this other “telephone number” song from 2001.
867-5309 - Jenny / Tommy Tutone (2001)
That was Tommy Tutone with 867-5309 / Jenny, a song which led to litigation by many holders of that phone number who were bombarded with nonsense calls after the huge commercial successs of the song in 2001. The song also attracted some controversy from another quarter, when it was suggested that a Bruce Springsteen release from 2007 was eerily similar in chord structure. As always, I offer you the evidence to make up your own mind. From his 2007 album Magic, this is The Boss with Radio Nowhere.
Radio Nowhere / Bruce Springsteen (2007)
This is The Music Labyrinth where we last listened to Radio Nowhere, from Bruce Springsteen’s 2007 allbum, Magic. Guitars and backing vocals on that track were by Steven Van Zandt, otherwise known as Little Steven, who is a long time collaborator of Bruce Springsteen’s, but also an accomplished song writer, musician and actor in his own right. In the 1980s and 1990s he was the front man for Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul. And if you wanted a definition of their sound, I can think of no better example that this.
Undefeated (Everybody Goes Home) / Little Steven (1983)
On The Music Labyrinth that was Little Steven from 1983 with the triumphant Undefeated (Everybody Goes Home). And so, we have arrived at a point in the labyrinth where the last two tracks we have listened to together were by Bruce Springsteen and Little Steven who - as it happens - were two of the driving forces of the mighty E Street Band. And when I think of the E Street Band, my mind immediately turns to July 7, 1978 at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California when the E Street Band were at the absolute peak of their game. This next track, recorded at that show, is what I call a “time machine track”, by which I mean that, as soon as someone really clever invents that particular device, July 7, 1978 at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California is the first place I am headed. So to end Episode 96 of The Music Labyrinth, please revel with me in the pure joy and combined musicianship of the E Street Band with Rosalita (Come Out Tonight). Thanks for listening.
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) / Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (1986)