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 | Mother We Just Can't Get Enough - New Radicals
At the top of the New Radicals' only release is this brash rock pastiche. Gregg Alexander, who fronts the band and appears to be the mastermind behind the whole outfit, has culled together some rather obvious influences from the rock world, even borrowing from Depeche Mode, right in the title. Regardless, the tune is brilliant, if not a bit preachy by the end (the sultry Danielle Brisebois imitating an ATM which asks for the user's soul). A fun way to start a very eclectic album....but that's all you'll hear of them on this mix.
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Clarity - John Mayer
Another track-one: this piece kicked off Mayer's sophomore studio album, Heavier Things, in the summer of '03. Eventually released as a single, the song features a strong horn section, cascading major-seventh chords, and particularly Mayer's pensivity as he crosses the threshold into follow-up territory..."I will wait to find/If this will last forever". Something tells me he's gonna make it.
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Eat The Rich - Aerosmith
This is a fun, hard-edged bird, flipped at the rich and famous--ironically penned and played by Aerosmith, one of rock 'n' roll's most enduring quintets (and arguably one of the wealthiest, too). I remember first hearing this song on MTV back during my freshman or sophomore year in high school, on the coattails of "Livin' On The Edge" from their Get A Grip album. When I finally landed the CD, courtesy of Columbia House, it was this cut that received repeated airplay in my bedroom. A very memorable hook, one of those you wish you'd come up with. During the last second of the song, Aerosmith gives us one of the most disgusting, esophageal belches I've ever heard.
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Detective - No Doubt
Another fun track from Rock Steady,, which I originally bought for "Hella Good" (see MP3>CDR 008). Gwen Stefani sounds so cute as a would-be Girl Friday during the intro section...which also features a sweet horn swell for two beats of one of the measures. They nailed the genre, just before returning to their ska roots.
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Maxine - Donald Fagen
DF's solo masterpiece The Nightfly yielded eight songs, and each one is spectacular in its own way. Wrapping up the A-side is this 12/8, very New-York sounding waltz-shuffle, boasting some of the most gorgeous--and difficult to play--chords throughout the whole piece. Obviously, it's Fagen's handiwork that shines through in most of Steely Dan's oeuvre, and here, he works free of collaboratory constraints to craft a piece that surpasses bewilderment from a musical standpoint, and achieves perfection in actually being listenable.
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Greatest American Hero - Joey Scarbury
I can remember this song from the radio back before I knew what the radio was. This, and Joe Jackson's "Steppin' Out" are, quite seriously, the first two songs I ever heard, other than Sesame Street records. I never saw the show. Apparently, it only lasted for a season-and-a-half or something. But I clung to the timbre of Joey Scarbury's voice, strangely embodying the essence of a gee-whiz twenty-something with a super power. And what a great thing to be able to say: "Believe it or not/I'm walking on air"!
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I Would Do Anything - Kenny Loggins
My dad bought my mom the Outside: From The Redwoods CD for Christmas 1992, but it quickly fell victim to the black hole that is my CD collection. Just before leaving for Germany in the summer of '94, I threw together a mix tape which I would listen to over and over and over and over again in our rented Ford Escort. This track was on there, and I only recently realized that it's way long...almost eight minutes. Early-90's keyboards abound in this piece, and Kenny deftly fences his falsetto with chanteuse Shanice's very authentic soprano. Relaxing and energizing, all at the same time. Just what I needed in Germany...seriously.
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Sittin' On Top Of The World - Lenny Kravitz
So, here's the first track off Lenny's first album. I miss this version of Lenny. Before he became a garden-variety rock star and let his name do the hard work, he was a funky, funky brotha. This track barely breaks the three-minute mark, but sits in a sloppy pocket, punched up with some tasty clav, a bit of B3, and some cool, loose harmonies by LK, aka Romeo Blue, back in those days.
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Alex Descends Into Hell For A Glass Of Milk - U2
This track came from the single for the Achtung Baby track "The Fly". It's a very different vibe for the typically anthemic Irish foursome, displaying almost soundtrack-like qualities. It's very, very dark, and features choir boys singing "dies irae" (the Day of Wrath). And a soundtrack it was--for the British Royal Shakespeare Company's theatrical production of A Clockwork Orange (hence the "Alex" and "milk" references). At the end, though, it kicks into a comfy, slammin' U2 groove.
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Is It My Name? - Todd Rundgren
Another bizarre track from A Wizard, A True Star, this one features some oddball sexual fare ("there's the reason I'm so erect" and "my voice goes so high, you would think I was gay." Nice...) Most of it involves running the whole mix through a phaser, ill-timed drum breaks. But there's something about Todd--he's just....the man.
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Wicked Garden - Stone Temple Pilots
I don't often cite STP as influential or inspirational music, but their first album did host some very autobiographical songs. Slightly below their smash hit "Plush" was this cut, which mostly grooves on the I chord, but has a great pre-chorus, bolstered by Scott Weiland's thick baritone. I particularly love the breaks that fade back in. It fits right in with the quasi-eclectic feel of much of the early-90's grunge clique..."burn your wicked garden down". Who knows what it means? But, when you're in high school, you can just relate, man. It's all about the angst.
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Panama - Van Halen
This is a track I'm fairly new to, having never been a giant Van Halen fan, as some of my friends were. There's the obligatory juvenile tricks (turning "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" into an acronym...hey, it sold albums). I picked up VH's Best Of Volume I, and heard it as a matter of course. I always think of Jimmy Manno from my swing band days, who lovingly followed Eddie and his boys, occasionally saluting them with an endlessly-sustained vibrato note.
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Brown Sugar - Rolling Stones
Much of the Stones' catalog runs together in my mind. That's not to say they're not a great band--it's just that only a small percentage of their stuff resonates with me. But that's fine...they still come up with great choruses and melody ideas. I remember hearing this song on a KQRS commercial in Minneapolis during the Summer of Fun (1989), while taping "Batman" episodes on Fox 29.
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Say Goodbye - Dave Matthews Band
This album got a ton of play on my floor during freshman year at Webster. This track comes straight out of "#41", and takes the mood from a dark drive to a light, flute-peppered happy jam. It's just a happy song. I'll stop there, lest I use the word "happy" again. D'oh!
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American Boy - Chris Isaak
I love this song just for the first few seconds, when he busts into that countrified a cappella harmony.
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Dance, Dance, Dance - Steve Miller Band
This one takes me back to my days in the Saltines. I was just discovering classic rock, and had been led to the SMB by "Jungle Love". Bought the tape for my dad, it ended up in my car, and received continuous play. I pitched a song based on "Dance, Dance, Dance"'s melody to the boyz in the band, called "Down-Home Barn Jive". I just thought it'd be funny for a white funk band to pop out this corny country tune. The lyrics were so awful, though, I couldn't get through the song without cracking up. That pretty much kissed that piece goodbye.
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Lovefool - The Cardigans
Another gem from freshman year. The gentlemen down in Maria 151 dug the lead singer of the Cardigans, and found her "luff me, luff me" liltings from the Romeo & Juliet soundtrack highly enjoyable. I lift a tall one to Mr. Chris Brudzinski of Chicago, IL, as I remember those days.
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Do I Do - Stevie Wonder
After hearing "Creepin'", which reacquainted me with one of my earliest musical influences, I picked up his best-of, and found this epic track closing out the first disc. The chords are great, and when Stevie starts riffing vocally, look out! This man gets funky. I used to listen to it all the time, stopping usually around 8:00 or so. Beyond that, he's basically telling his band members when to solo, and rhyming VERY badly.
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