MIKE PERCIACCANTE
Okay, here it is, the latest list of songs that you need to have on your iPod or mp3 device. No specific theme. No specific decade. No nothing, just great music. Each song is brilliant in its own rite. I hope you like ‘em. I do.
51. Somebody That I Used To Konow – Gotye
I know…when you first hear it you can’t help but think of the Oompa Loompas from Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. And, yes it did completely Jump-The-Shark when it was featured in Glee. It doesn’t matter. It’s that good. The collaboration between Belgian-Australian multi-instrumentalist Gotye (Wally De Backer) and New Zealand vocalist Kimbra is sparsely arranged yet wonderful break-up song featuring haunting lyrics, a reggae backbeat and staccato rhythms that calls to mind the best of Police-era Sting.
Recommended version found on: Making Mirrors (Fairfax Recordings/Universal Republic, 2012)
52. Junk of The Heart (Happy) – The Kooks
It’s such a positive song. It opens with the drums and then it builds to the vocals. How can you go wrong with a chorus like:
I wanna make you happy,
I wanna make you feel alive,
Let me make you happy,
I wanna make you feel alive at night,
I wanna make you happy
If you’re a good girl tonight
Yeah
I know some say that it’s also cliché-ridden. Yup it is. But it’s good. And it’ll make you happy.
Recommended version found on: Junk Of The Heart (Astralwerks, 2011).
53. Sequestered In Memphis – The Hold Steady
Kick-ass rock ‘n’ roll with great clever lyrics. The song is a loud dynamic masterpiece of post-Modern Rock. It’s a sing-a-long anthem! With the screaming guitars, tasty keyboards, garage band drumming and a driving bassline, the song tells the story of a one-night stand. Just one listen to “Sequestered in Memphis” and I was hooked.
In barlight, she looked alright
In daylight, she looked desperate
That’s alright I was desperate too
I’m getting pretty sick of this interview
Subpoenaed in Texas, sequestered in Memphis
Subpoenaed in Texas, sequestered in Memphis
Recommended versions can be found on: Stay Positive (Vagrant, 2008)
54. From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come) – Dave Edmunds
Why because the rave-up was written by Bruce Springsteen and it’s a great roots rocker. Bash and crash drumming, a very cool lead guitar, a fantastic piano and a 50’s groove that doesn’t let up–wow! It burns all the way from the opening riff through to the closing notes.
At 16, she quit high school, to make her fortune in the Promised Land
She got a job behind the counter at an all-night hamburger stand
She wrote faithfully home to Mama, “Now mama, don’t you worry none
From small things, Mama, big things one day come.”
It was late one Friday, he pulled in out of the dark
He was tall and handsome. First she took his order, then she took his heart
They bought a house up on a hillside where little feet would soon run
From small things, Mama, big things one day come
Oh, but luck was fleeting. It’s sad but it’s true
When your heart is bleeding, you don’t want to hear it abused
She packed her bags and went to Wyoming with a real estate man
She drove down to Tampa in an Eldorado Grand
She wrote back, “Dear Mama, life is just heaven in the sun
From small things, Mama, big things one day come.”
Well, she shot him dead on a sunny Florida road
When they caught her, all she said was she couldn’t stand the way he drove
Back home, lonesome Johnny waits for his baby’s parole
He waits high on the hillside where the wide-open rivers roll
At his feet and almost grown now, a blue-eyed daughter and a handsome son
From small things, Mama, big things one day come
From small things, Mama, big things one day come
Recommended versions can be found on: D.E. 7th (Columbia, 1982), The Dave Edmunds Anthology: 1968-1990 (Rhino, 1993) and From Small Things: The Best of Dave Edmunds (Columbia/Legacy, 2004).
55. What Do All The People Know – The Monroes
Quite possibly the greatest song that never was a hit…the greatest unknown song. Yet you know it and whenever you hear it you get caught up in it. It’s infectious…and everybody (well everybody of a certain age) knows the lyrics and the Ba Boom Boom Ba Boom Boom Bop drum break.
You know I told you once tonight
That you could always speak your mind
You work so hard to say what’s right
I watch you do it all the time
And when I called you on the phone
You said that I could be the one
But here I’m standing all alone
And you’re out lying in the sun
Tell me am I getting in too deep
Every night I’m talking in my sleep
Lately I am so confused
I really don’t know what to do
Could you be the one I’m thinking of?
Could you be the girl I really love?
All the people tell me so
But what do all the people know
If everybody knows it why wasn’t it a hit? Because the label went out of business, that’s why. When Alfa Records folded, “What Do All the People Know,” which had been gaining momentum, stalled at #59 on the pop charts. It couldn’t rise any higher because nobody could purchase the record—even though the radio stations were playing the hell out of it. That’s the sad fact. “What Do All the People Know” began appearing on new wave compilations during the ’90s and, for the most part, that is where you can find it.
Recommended versions can be found on: Just Can’t Get Enough: New Wave Hits Of The 80’s, Vol. 4 (Rhino, 1994), Living In Oblivion: The 80’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 (EMI, 1994) and Modern Rock: Lost Hits of the Early ’80s (Warner/Time Life, 2000).
As always, I’m going to end this column with a call to action. What are the songs you cannot live without? What are the songs that you must have on your mp3 player? C’mon! This is your chance to shine, to show off your musical knowledge. Send me an e-mail telling me what music you like and why. I’ll feature your song selection in a future column. E-mail me at: mikep@thewestfieldnewsgroup.com. Type Can’t Live Without in the Topic. Til Next time!
