Signed DC
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Well, reading LemonTwist's always wonderful posts got me to thinking about some of my favorite romantic songs. And it's a good time, too: yesterday was my girlfriend's birthday, and today is Valentine's Day.
Some here are some of my fave love songs:
1) Love Me Tonight, Annette Hanshaw. Wonderful, wonderful early 30s song with lyrics expressing uncertainity and hope. Hanshaw's is charming and totally natural, and every song of hers I've heard I like. This was one of the first ones I heard, and is still one of my favorites.
2) In My Life, The Beatles. Maybe not an obviously romantic song, but one that makes you think about the people you've known, and how glad you are to have a special love.
3) This Is Love (demo version), The Beau Brummels. An unissued at the time demo (released about thirty years later), with just Sal Valentino's beautiful vocals and guitar. A really haunting song that is perfect for folks who realize their in love.
4) This Is Our Year, The Zombies. I don't think these guys ever recorded a bad song! Colin Blunstone is right up there with Sal Valentino as one of the 60s best vocalists; he had (and STILL HAS) a wonderfully expressive and marvelous voice. Another song for blooming relations.
And many, many songs out there that I dig! These are just a few of the ones I dig the most, off the top of my head.
Lemon Twist's recent post and praise about hearing The Velvet Underground for the first time made me think about when I first of them....(thanks LT for triggering fond memories in my mind!)
During my senior year in high school (Spring '88), I sat in front of this guy named John in history class. We often talked about music, and he turned me on to lots of cool things (like the Dr. Demento show for instance). Well, one day he asked me if I had heard of Lou Reed, "the guy who did take a walk on the wild side." I had heard this song zillions of times on the radio, but that was all I knew about Lou Reed.
So John told me about his 60s band, The Velvet Underground. Said they were a "cool 60s band I hadn't heard yet." I remember him telling me about a song "of a guy who sends himself in a package to his girlfriend." (This turned out to The Gift, from White Light/White Heat).
It was about a year later that I finally got around to buying a Velvet Underground Lp. It was at Collector's Records (R.I.P.) in Dallas. Cds had been on the market for a few years, but there was still lots of vinyl at most stores. And there was lots of neat, intriguing looking discs there: Bob Marley, blues Lps, Betty Boop soundtracks, etc. Some of these Lps I bought that spring (1989), some many years later. It was quite a time to be 19; I was finally fed up with pop radio, and wanted to deliberately experiment with my musical purchases.
So one day I bought a copy of the third, self-titled VU Lp (for $6), and also bought my first blues Lps (a Bessie Smith comp, for $5) that same day. Both were in shrink wrap.
It was a momentous day! From the first note of "Candy Says" I was hooked. This was cool, weird, and groovy! I don't know how many times I've listened to that records since then (probably a 100 or so!) Each song flows beautifully into the next, like a story. The contemplative, uncertain nature of "Jesus" goes into the what the heck nature of "I'm Beginning to See the Light" (probably my fave 2 songs on the album). Maybe because this was so unknown, undiscoverd (to me), it began my lifelong search for cool, obscure songs from the 60s (and before!)
I had heard a couple of songs from the Bessie Smith Lp before (on a radio show in Dallas, station and show long forgotten by me). "Gimme a Pigfoot" was a rowdy, goodtime number (with a young Benny Goodman on clarinet); it was such rollicking fun, it was sad when I found out that that was one of the last songs Bessie recorded.
Maybe because I loved movies from the 20s and 30s (and the jazzy music that would often accompany images of the 20s in documentaries), I got into the music from that era, too! I thought, "there has to be something odd, crazy from 1930 that I haven't heard yet!" Another lifelong passion that continues to this day.
And I finish typing as I listen to the VU's first Lp (the banana peel one), which was another momentous records for yours truly! But that'll have to wait for another music post....
Comments
Nice post Dennis! I've got a friend who is just recently getting into The VU, and I am so jealous that he is going to get to hear some amazing songs (that we know so well) for the very first time.
Awesome. The Gift is one of my favorite VU songs. Isn't it cool how exciting the VU is to discover? And it's clearly not just you and I who've fallen in love so much, it's many people. Glad I could spark your memory.
Thanks ya'll for the nice comments! It's good to know there are folks still discovering The Velvet Underground out there.
Over the past couple of years, I've been listening to lots old time radio shows (and also finding lots of inexpensive box sets as well!)
For those who haven't listened to radio comedies, dramas, sci-fi, etc., there's nothing quite like it. You lose yourself in an audio theatre of imagination. Because it's radio, everthing has to be put across through words, music or sounf effects. A show like "Suspense" or "Escape" really engosses you as get caught up in a web of intrigue.
I recently read Leonard Maltin's The Gream American Broadcast (which I highly recommend). It details various aspects about radio's golden age (the 30s, 40s, and 50s), including chapters on writers, directors, sound effects people, etc. It talks about how radio had unique demands unlike movies or the stage (or latter, television).
Most radio shows were done live (including the sound effects!). Well, some of the sound effects were pre recorded and run on turntables live on the air by the sound efffects engineers. Sometimes they'd have several turntables going at once! And then they would do another show the next week (or many folks in radio did several shows in A WEEK! Sometimes more than one a day!)
What's really fascinating to me is that many versatile radio actors could read a script cold (that is once), and have the characters down pat! Folks like William Conrad did this all the time, and were much in demand. All they needed to know was who the character was, his/her motivations, etc. Amazing!
Radio Spirits has lots of great 10 and 20 cds sets, including samplers like "Greatest Shows of the 20th Century." If you haven't heard legendary broadcasts like "War of the Worlds" and "Sorry Wrong Number," then you're in a great aural exploration.
Comments
Sounds pretty rad. I'd love to go back in time and hear old time radio for myself. That'd be exciting.
You know, the 1930 US census was the first to start asking families if they owned a radio. Lots of families were afraid to answer in the affirmative, fearing that the government could somehow listen in on them through their radio.
Funny how times have changed. :)
Nice comment! Yes, who knows what the government can do now with computers! Glad you have an interest in radio, it's a fun hobby!
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Hi Signed DC! Great post!
On the topic of Colin Blunstone and romantic songs- today I found a mix tape i made 6 years ago (old mix tapes are always fun discoveries.) Anyway, The Zombies "Friends of Mine" is on it- and I was thinking that that song totally captures the initial excitement of love. And it's so endearing that he's not talking about HIS love for his girlfriend, but rather how happy he is for his friends!
Your girlfriend is an aquarius- woo hoo! (my b-day is tomorrow ) :)
You know, I think I've only heard the second one. Either way, hope you had a great valentine's day. :)
Thanks for the nice comments ya'll!
Ye-Ye Girl: Happy Birthday! Remember, 28 rhymes with great! Friends of Mine is another great one; I recall reading in the linear notes to the Zombie Heaven box set that (sadly) 30 years later, only two of the couples were still together.
Lemontwist: I can't recommend all of these songs highly enough!