Songs For Surviving A Pandemic (Vol. 2, #2)
Frank Chmielewski
Director of Assessments at The Institutes | Risk and Insurance Knowledge Group
[Other installments are accessible from the bottom of this page.]
A.??A little bit of Northern Soul.
“Tainted Love”; Gloria Jones (1965)- American soul artist’s record became a big hit in the Northern Soul scene in early 1970’s England. You can hear the bones (huh?) upon which Soft Cell’s 1981 version was built. Play danceably loud. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH4yq-goqiA.
B.???A little bit of No Wave.
“Contort Yourself”; James Chance & The Contortions (1979). In late seventies’ New York, punk rock was somewhat nostalgic for old-fashioned rock & roll, but those in the crowd that liked punk and new wave made up the No Wave scene as well, which was about the deconstruction of musical norms. "Contort Yourself" has jagged-edged rhythms, a punk-jazz feel, and is a No Wave classic. Play fairly loud and move around anyway you want. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wcn6PCGPN4.
C.???Two Johnny Too Bads.
“Johnny Too Bad”; The Slickers (1970) and “Johnny Too Bad”; The Offs (1978). The Slickers created a Jamaican rocksteady classic. Don’t be a rude boy, because “You’re gonna run to the rock for rescue, There will be no rock.” There are many covers, of which the punk-ska band the Offs of San Francisco have a good one. Play pretty loud. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRm7j2UL3YY, Slickers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnC-0ojSjKY&t=36s, Offs.
D.??Somewhat related to C., above.
“(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais”; The Clash (1978). I include this one because it is one of my favorites, Joe Strummer’s rebellion manifesto, a punk-ska marriage with fantastic crescendos. What does it have to do with ‘Johnny Too Bad’? The Clash lyrics mention Delroy Wilson, who is sometimes credited as an author of JTB, although many believe the credit should go to brother Trevor Wilson instead. Play really loud. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6fC69D-wlY.
E.???Why are the following songs treated together?
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“I’m Waiting For The [sometimes My] Man”; Velvet Underground (1967) and “Heroes”; David Bowie (1977). A heroin (not heroine) song and a heroes’ song. A junkies’ song and a love across the Berlin Wall song. Both masterpieces, being treated together because Bowie told Moby that he was working on a cover of the VU song and it morphed into “Heroes.” And Bowie’s wish is my wish for my son, “I, I wish you could swim, Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim.” There are many versions of these tunes. I chose the original for “Man” and my favorite live clip of “Heroes.” Play very loud. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99og_g7rXnA, VU. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsYp9q3QNaQ&list=RDbsYp9q3QNaQ&index=1, Bowie live.
F.???What are your songs for surviving in this viral age?
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UPDATE, 4/1/20. Jonathan Kassa, the school security expert, commented with his spectacular list:
“Armagiddeon Time”; Willie Williams. Reggae song covered by the Clash. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmjx1r1omgY.
“Someday We’ll Have A Better World”; Eddie Kendricks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thRHeczC1NA.
“For What It’s Worth”; The Staple Singers. The ‘What’s that sound?’ song, originally by Buffalo Springfield. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChVHnFWYKwo.
“The Shape I’m In”; The Band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoQh5BRnBrM.
“Within Your Reach”; The Replacements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q67Il27DbFo.
Thank you, Jonathan!
Director of Assessments at The Institutes | Risk and Insurance Knowledge Group
2 年I just learned that "Tainted Love" was written by Ed Cobb, the producer who went on to write "Dirty Water' for the Standells, the song that is a critique of Boston but became embraced by the city. See, for ex., https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-standells/dirty-water.
Director of Assessments at The Institutes | Risk and Insurance Knowledge Group
3 年I talk about the VU's "I'm Waiting For The Man" in the article above. A friend of mine is really into the folk-psychedelic band, Ancient Cities. Here is a cool version of the tune by them, recorded on top of a bus (!). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdPl6RMwZPE .
Technical Editor | Freelance Author | Ghostwriter | Training & Development | Tech Innovation | Keynote Speaker | Insurtech
4 年I genuinely enjoy, for mostly different reasons, both versions of Tainted Love. The Gloria Jones video, however, reveals one consistent factor in rock and roll: from the very beginning, middle-aged TV producers have been comically inept at trying to add excitement to rock music by adding pointless dancers to the stage. The original "Johnny Too Bad" is at the early stage of the era of great music coming out of Jamaica, which ended around 1985 when reggae became club music. The other version is a bit, ummm, "Off." I never embraced punk at large, but I think it spawned the terrific stuff like Talking Heads and maybe even Elvis Costello. And for sure, The Clash are the apex for me. Have you heard the Pixie's answer song to Lou Reed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPgf_btTFlc OK, it probably wasn't written for that purpose, but you could make an entire post of song/answer song tandems like Hank Thompson's "Wild Side of Life" (1952) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFXB5cJDmp8 and Kitty Wells' answer song "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" (also 1952) which eclipsed Hank's song by a country mile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKleTa94dC8