It’s been a very embarrassing season to be a Giants fan, but I was genuinely appalled the organization had ever gotten money from my angry queer self this Pride Night. Every last one of these bigots spat on their own fanbase, and clearly ownership and management were happy to allow that.
I smoke old stogies I have found, short but not too big around, I'm a man...who's (five days) late again....
After having watched this week's artist on Saturday Night Live, falling in love with his first single, and then rushing out to get his debut LP, I fell in love with his second single simply by listening to it again and again as I listened to the aforementioned album and said first single. Surprisingly (somewhat), that would pretty much do it--while there was a song or two of his I enjoyed as his career went on, nothing came close to those first two....
I wrote about Eddie Money in Vol. CCLXXXVI (see first single noted above), and on a sadder note, about his death in 2019. Alas, as his death remains permanent and nothing new of his life or career has surfaced in the last six years, we're going to let that bio ride, captain, ride....
"Two Tickets to Paradise" was the second (and final) single released from his 1977 debut album, the rather deviously entitled Eddie Money. The single would reach #22 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while, as I noted in my original post of his debut single, the album reached #37 on the Billboard 200.
Fun Fact: My girlfriend at the time of this week's song's release (who would go on to be my first wife) actually made me two tickets to paradise and sent them to me when she was away at college. Sadly, they've been lost in time, but it's still a reminder that, despite the eventual outcome of our marriage, we did have a lot of joy together, too.
It's funny to look at some of the critical reviews of Eddie Money (he was pretty much damned with faint praise) as he started his career and think of how much I enjoyed his earliest efforts, listening to his first album again and again on my very first stereo, earned from summers of working for Continental Steel. In fairness, Money did pretty much turn out to be just another rocker, but I'd bet my next paycheck that a lot more people were saddened at his death than will be saddened at the death of every rock critic ever combined. What that has to do with this week's song is beyond even me (and I wrote it), but suffice it to say that Money turns in a stellar effort here (some consider it his signature song), nailing the promise and desire of being in love and wanting to give your lover all the joy he or she needs. There's some great blasting guitar, and the drums really drive the song's ambiance. No, it isn't one of the greats, but it's still a catchy as all hell love song that rocks and rolls in all the right places. And sometimes, that's enough.
Lyric Sheet: "I'm gonna take you on a trip so far from here/I've got two tickets in my pocket, baby/We'll disappear/You know why?/You've waited so long..."
For almost four decades, Nancy Pelosi has served the American people and worked to make our country better. No one was more skilled at bringing people together and getting legislation passed – and I will always be grateful for her support of the Affordable Care Act.
Nancy Pelosi has been the greatest, most effective Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in American history. Thank you @SpeakerPelosi for your dedicated service and leadership.
A song from the sixties calling for loving and understanding each other at a time when our differences have never been greater. Sadly, it's become far too fashionable to punch a hippie; it may have been an imperfect time but it sure fought a lot harder for a perfect world than is done today, often with songs just like this week's featured tune....
Sly and the Family Stone were formed in my birth home of San Francisco in 1966 by Sly Stone (birth name, Sylvester Stewart) and actually did feature his family, what with his brother and sister being in the band as well as other musicians. The band is famed for being the first American music group to feature not only white and black musicians, but also men and women musicians, as well. Sly and the Family Stone is considered one of the most influential bands in American music history, playing a large role in the funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic styles. Three of their albums made Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all-time, and the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. As has been known to happen, rampant drug use and sometimes violent confrontations between band members hastened the demise of the band, and by 1987 they were done. For their career, the band released eleven studio albums (with one #1), and 22 singles, of which three hit the top of the charts. The band has "reunited" twice--once at their induction ceremony (long enough for Sly to say a few words and then disappear) and at a Grammy tribute (long enough for Sly to sing a verse and then disappear). Sadly, Sly Stone at last glance was living in a van getting by with the help of neighbors and had completely turned his back on the music industry.
"Everyday People" was originally released as a single in 1968, and later added to their seminal 1969 album, Stand!The single was the first of Sly and the Family Stone's to hit #1 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album was their first to become a hit, eventually reaching #13 on the Billboard 200.
Fun Fact: This week's tune is credited with popularizing the phrase "Different strokes for different folks." And another addition to the extremely long list of things I never would have guessed....
"Everyday People" opens with some jaunty piano joined by a pulsating bass and a little snappy drumming, and only gets better from there. Sly Stone sings some peace and love lyrics with a joyful certainty, and sister Rose breaks in with sing song stanzas that give the song a gritty innocence. You can literally imagine grade school children singing this one at an assembly (it'd be one cool ass assembly). Rolling Stone ranked it #145 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all-time, and it's easy to see why: it's two minutes and forty-seven seconds of some of the funkiest hope and dreams you'll ever hear.
Lyric Sheet: "And so on and so on/And scooby dooby dooby/Oh sha sha/We got to live together..."
After my first marriage ended, I suffered from insomnia for a number of years and as a result spent many a late night channel surfing in the dark in the living room of my first post-divorce apartment. As such, I came across many tunes (such as this week's) on either MTV or VH-1 that have been, or will be, featured here on Friday Night Jukebox. While I certainly wouldn't endorse it as a good way to find new music, if you're one of those people always looking for a silver lining...there you go.
Train formed in my old stomping grounds, the city of San Francisco, in 1993. Over the course of their first few years they recruited the members that would make up their original incarnation, and self-released their first album. In 1998 Columbia Records took a chance on them and it paid off handsomely, as the band had its first of many hits to come. Over the last twenty-eight years, Train has sold over ten million albums and thirty million tracks. For their career, they have released ten studio albums (with five hitting the top ten) and thirty-four singles (with three reaching the top ten). The band is still recording and touring, with lead singer Pat Monahan being the only original member remaining (though some past members continue to play periodically with whatever current line-ups the band is presenting).
Fun Fact: Train's mega-hit, "Hey Soul Sister" is the greatest selling single in the history of Columbia Records, which considering that Columbia has been around longer than I have (sixty-two years and counting) and has had numerous substantial artists (Aretha, Dylan, and Springsteen come immediately to mind) is quite a feat.
"Meet Virginia" was released in 1999 as the second single from their major label debut LP, the cleverly titled Train. The single would be the first hit of their career, reaching #20 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album peaked at a rather pedestrian #76.
Train is one of those bands that ordinarily I would shrug my shoulders at, being just so much vanilla pudding, but for some odd ass reason I find myself with five of their songs on my Spotify playlist and can honestly say for all their generic flavor I find them quite tasty. "Meet Virginia" was the first of those singles, and it laid the groundwork for most of those to come. Monahan has a voice that's tailor made for singing rocking pop songs, and the band is more than capable of providing the chops and the hooks to keep you singing along. With this week's song, the band tells the tale of a free spirited woman with both a heart of gold and a head full of questions that might never be answered. It's a nice study, and the band fills her and her story with just the right amounts of passion and compassion. It's a real gift to have the ability to write a song that sounds like new twenty-two years down the road, and Train has done that for me with a song that sounds just as good today as it did when I first heard it late one sleepless night in a dark living room....
Lyric Sheet: "She doesn't own a dress/Her hair is always a mess/If you catch her stealin' she won't confess/She's beautiful....
Enjoy:
The Republican Party Is Now a Fascist Cult Just Like Nazi Germany
Digby this week made a great point concerning all those police officers threatening to quit if they are going to be required to receive the coronavirus vaccine--goodbye and good riddance. And she's right--the kind of officers who would quit are the ones we don't want patrolling our streets, the ones who'd rather be the SS than serve Americans of every race, sex, or sexual orientation.
It could be a win-win for all of us--racist traitors disappear from our police forces and we're left with men and women who actually believe in serving and protecting us, and we can begin to rebuild the trust that at this point in time has been erased by years of racism and systemic violence by those not fit to serve.
People Who Refuse to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine Are Why Our Lives Can't Return to Normal
News that police officers and firefighters in San Francisco are threatening to quit rather than adhere to mayor London Breed's vaccine mandate certainly makes you wonder how committed they are to protecting the public. I mean seriously--you can't get a fucking shot to protect my health and I'm still supposed to believe you really give a shit about catching violent criminals before they cause me harm? Or stopping a fire before my house burns down?
Get fucking real.
Taxing the Wealthy Is Good Politics for the Democratic Party
I saw someone mention this, and had to check it out. San Francisco County and South Dakota have roughly the same population; SF has had 559 total Covid deaths, SD 2039 1/ https://t.co/Nfnf4Y7gyz
This week we're going back to the decade that many--myself included--consider the best ever for rock and roll: the 1970's. And now, everybody together (with eye rolls), "OK, Boomer..."
Steve Miller moved to Chicago at the ripe old age of twenty-two to follow his dream of being a blues musician. After a year he grew unhappy with the music scene there and in 1966 moved to San Francisco where he formed the Steve Miller Blues Band. Shortly thereafter Miller took the bold step of taking the word "Blues" out of the band's name and it became just the Steve Miller Band (it was hoped that taking the word out would broaden the band's audience--it worked quite well). The Steve Miller Band would have its first charting album in 1969, and would continue to chart albums moderately successfully until 1973 when it had its first pop hit with the song "The Joker" and the band would have four of its next five albums hit the top three on the Billboard 200 (with nary a number one, oddly enough). In 1978 the Steve Miller Band released its Greatest Hits and to date the compilation has sold more than 13 million copies. For their career, the band has released 18 studio albums, six live albums, and nine compilations. They've also released thirty singles, with three #1's and two more top ten hits. Sadly, most of the band's original members have gone to the Great Rock and Roll Concert in the Sky, though Miller still tours with the band's current incarnation. Miller was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 (and managed to be perhaps the only inductee to be such an asshole as to have the band inducting him--the Black Keys--later recant their speech honoring him).
Fun Fact: emaycee fave Boz Scaggs met Miller at the age of 12 when the pair were in prep school. They would later attend the University of Wisconsin together, and go their separate ways for a few years before meeting up again in San Francisco. Scaggs was the guitarist on the Steve Miller Band's first two albums before returning to his solo career.
"Take the Money and Run" was the first single released (in 1976) from Miller's appropriately titled for the seventies album, Fly Like an Eagle. The single would reach #11 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the albums would peak at #3.
"Take the Money and Run" tells the tale of two young lovers who rob a rich man and are followed by a mean detective until they escape over the border--which sounds somewhat lame until you remember America's fascination with outlaws like Bonnie and Clyde or John Dillinger, folks who stole from the rich to support themselves. The song is catchy, Miller's vocals are detached enough to keep the song from inanity, and there's some nice guitar work along the way. While I would never say I waited with baited breath for a Steve Miller Band release, I liked a number of their songs as I went through my formative years. But I chose this one because...in the second chorus and again right before the end after Miller sings "take the money and run" he bellows "Ooooh, Lord!" and it's one of those moments in a song that takes it from being a nice little single to one you want to hear again and again. And it's those small (even if sometimes silly) moments that have kept me entertained listening to pop music for almost fifty years now.
Lyric Sheet: "They got the money, hey/You know they got away/They headed down south and they're still running today/Singin' go on take the money and run/Go on take the money and run...oooh Lord..."
Enjoy:
It Was an Insurrection--the Blood of Those Killed on January 6th Is on Republican Hands
Regular readers (both of you) may remember that I wrote a short obituary for Eddie Money when he died last year. In it I promised that there would come a day when this week's tune would be featured...and voila! today is that day....
Edward Mahoney was born in New York City and after trying to become a policeman and failing, moved westward to the San Francisco Bay Area, changed his name to Eddie Money (his surname being a play on the fact that he never had any), and in 1974 began his music career in earnest. He released his debut album in 1977 (which is when I discovered him after seeing him perform on Saturday Night Live) and due to its success was able to carve out a musical career that lasted until his death in 2019. Money would go on to release 12 studio albums (eight of which would reach the Billboard 200), 4 EPs, three live albums, and six compilations. He would also release 27 singles, 24 of which would hit the charts, with the best topping out at #4. Money was nominated for a Grammy Award, wrote songs for four soundtracks, acted on both the silver screen and television, and is a proud member of the Long Island Hall of Fame. While Money never remotely reached greatness over the course of his 45 years performing, he most certainly had a nice string of success and was at least able to enjoy a taste of fame and fortune.
Fun Fact Money was at one time a trainee to become a New York City police officer (his grandfather, father, and brother were all policeman), but after a few months decided he didn't want to cut his hair and quit the program to play music. His Dad was so pissed he tore down a Jimi Hendrix picture from Money's bedroom wall....
"Baby Hold On" was released in 1978 on his first album, entitled, appropriately enough, Eddie Money. The single would reach #11 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was the most commercially successful of his career, eventually selling over two million copies (though it only peaked at #37 on the album charts).
While "Baby Hold On' doesn't make a lot of greatest songs of all-time lists, it's one of the first singles I remember really going crazy over, listening to the album again and again in my room just to hear it, and cranking the radio as high as it would go every time I heard it tooling around Kokomo, Indiana in my parents car. It's aged very well--it still sounds as good every time I hear it as it did when I was an awkward eighteen year old. Money gives easily the best performance of his career vocally, and the song is a smorgasbord of emaycee faves: jangly guitars, hand claps, pulsating bass, driving drums, a catchy chorus, and even an interlude of just vocals, bass, and drums. It's the kind of song that a young man just getting his feet wet in the mystery that is rock and roll would fall in love with...and still love enough to write a fanboy blog post about some forty odd years later.
Lyric Sheet: "Hey Baby/You know the future's lookin' brighter/Every morning when I get up/Don't be thinkin' 'bout what's not enough, now baby/Just be thinkin' 'bout what we got..."
Eddie Money passed away today from the ravages of esophageal cancer --I was a huge fan of his first couple of albums (I bought his first after being blown away by his performance on Saturday Night Live), both of which I played incessantly. While the rest of his career wasn't my cup of tea, the first two still have a special place in my musical heart. His songs "Baby Hold On" and "Two Tickets to Paradise" will always be among my all-time favorites. Fond memories of a great concert sometime back in the day, too.
Embarrassingly enough, somewhere there is a photo of me looking remarkably like the one above, sans the snazzy suit.
At some point in the future, I know "Baby Hold On" is on my list for a Friday Night Jukebox feature--but I want to play it tonight for the good times--and to say thank you to Mr. Edward Mahoney for some fine memories from my youth:
This week we have another tune I discovered thanks to the wonders of clicking on the Folk genre in Pandora (I posted songs by Chatham County Line and Kane, Welch, and Kaplin earlier this year). If they'd had Pandora when I was still young and carefree I'd probably have ten thousand albums in my collection...
Though I am well over halfway through my fifth year of Friday Night Jukebox, I continue to be amazed at how many musicians can make a living playing music despite a complete lack of commercial success. Forest Sun (his real name as he was christened Forest Sun Schumacher) is another such artist--born in New York, but our third straight Bay Area artist as he began his career in 1999 in my City by the Bay. Over the last twenty years he's started his own label and released nine albums (the last in 2012), none of which have come anywhere near the charts. He's released one children's album, played a fireman in the movie Who's There, and has added a song or two to three different movie soundtracks. Forest is also a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, drums, piano, and an emaycee fave, the ukulele. All in all he's spent the last twenty years making music and not slaving in retail, which is aces in my book.
Needless to say, "Change My Tune," which was released on Forest's 2005 LP Walk Through Walls, did not chart and we will not have a shout out for Billboard magazine this week (not that it needs one).
If ever there was a little ditty that was right up emaycee's alley, this one is it. A Folk tune featuring some nice acoustic guitar, drums that sound like a washboard being played, a bit of accordion, and some fiddle, all filled with the effervescent vocals of Forest Sun. "Change My Tune" is the promise of a man to his lady love that he's getting his shit together and everything will be different between them in the future...whether or not that's the case, only Forest Sun knows for sure. It's short, it's sweet, it's catchy, and in a just musical world, it would have at the very least been a top forty hit. As is, it's still a fine specimen of Americana: a jug band recording a pop hit that will keep your toes tapping and your lips humming for days.
Lyric Sheet: "The last song I sang you/I got the words wrong/Let me sing you another you can sing along/Gonna change my tune..."
This week's tune comes from a band that hails from my city by the bay--another in a long line of San Francisco treats....
Beulah formed in 1996 when office co-workers Miles Kurosky and Bill Swan realized they had similar tastes in music and decided to give it a go as a band. Championed by The Apples in Stereo frontman Robert Schneider, the band released its first single and album in 1997. Over the course of their eight year career, the band toured extensively and released four albums, five singles, and one demo album. Unfortunately, a lack of commercial success (Beulah was quite well received critically) eventually lead to their demise--the band vowed if its fourth album didn't go gold they'd call it quits, and when it didn't, Beulah kept its promise, disbanding in 2004. Kurosky has released one solo album in the years since, and the band has joined him for the odd charitable cause, but for all intents and purposes, it is kaput.
"Gene Autry" was a track from their 2003 album The Coast Is Never Clear(bonus points for a clever, if somewhat disheartening, title). The song was not released as a single, thus we have no shout outs for Billboard magazine this week.
Fun Fact: For those wondering (both of you) Beulah is a synonym for Israel, often in its incarnation as the Promised Land. Fascinating, my God....
Near as I can tell, "Gene Autry" tells the tale of a man listening to Gene Autry as he heads for California, where he hopes to find himself or happiness, all the while fearing he'll lose himself and his shot at happiness. The song's peppy music underlies the lyric's sometimes depressing overtones, but if one listens carefully one will be rewarded with a plethora of highlights. Kurosky has a soothing vocal style, and he makes great use of repetition ("I will ride, ride, ride" or "I'll sing along, long, long") to give the tune a sing along feel. The lyrics are subtle without being obtuse, and Kurosky can turn a phrase as the saying goes. The band for its part provides a multi-layered musical escape--the song opens with some pure power pop guitar chords, makes nice use of a piano, features bells in the chorus, and right before the coda makes use of some Latin flavored horns, and amazingly enough, it really works. If you're a pop music fan and you don't like this one, you're probably no longer among the living--a wonderful slice of pop's Promised Land (so to speak).
Lyric Sheet: "When I get to California/Gonna write my name in the sand/I'm gonna lay this body down/And watch the waves roll in..."
If you're familiar with Boz Scaggs, you'll know he has a distinctive vocal style--so much so, that when I was still a young man I spent months trying to imitate it (with some, but not much, success). A couple of weeks back when I realized a Scaggs' tune was coming soon here on FNJ, I thought, "Wouldn't it be fun to see if I can imitate Scaggs' vocals again?"...and promptly coughed up my larynx....
Boz Scaggs learned to play the guitar at the age of 12, and shortly thereafter began a friendship with Steve Miller that would result in the two of them playing music together for a number of years. Scaggs went to college at the University of Wisconsin (where he continued to play with Miller) before bouncing around London and Sweden on his own for a couple of years before releasing his first album in 1965 (dud). He would then relocate to my city by the Bay, where he became the lead vocalist for the Steve Miller Band's first two LP's. Scaggs went solo again in 1968 and released his second album which contains the seminal (and long, at over twelve minutes) song, "Loan Me a Dime." Scaggs continued to release albums steadily and then in 1976 released Silk Degrees, which would go on to sell over 5 million copies and make Scaggs an international star. Scaggs success would continue through the early eighties before the inevitable tapering off that afflicts so many artists set in. In all, Scaggs has released 19 studio LPs (the latest just this year), had two top ten LPs, a top ten single (the incredible "Lowdown"), won a Grammy Award, and co-owns a club in San Francisco as well as owning a vineyard. His son, Austin, is a music critic for Rolling Stone. Not a bad little career at all.
Fun Fact: A classmate of Scaggs at a prep school in Texas began calling him "Bosley" which over time was shortened to "Boz" and thus created his distinctive moniker.
Fun Fact #2: I was quite the Scaggs fan back in the day and wanted to name my oldest son "Boz" in tribute to Mr. Scaggs. Fortunately, my first wife was the brains in the outfit and nixed that idea forthwith...
"Lido Shuffle" was released in 1977 on the aforementioned Silk Degrees LP. It would eventually reach #11 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100 (it would hit #2 in Australia and #5 in Canada--so many cool kids in Australia and Canada, eh...). On a completely unrelated note, I scored a copy of Silk Degrees for a buck a few months back and spent two solid months listening to it on my drives to and from work--had forgotten what a fine piece of work it was.
I think what stands out for me about "Lido Shuffle" is how different it is from most of what Scaggs has released through the years. He's known for smooth pop songs (with elements of jazz and R & B) and lush ballads, but this one is as close to a balls out rocker as he's done. And he manages to do it with little or no guitar (the credits list three guitarists but I'll be damned if I can hear them). It's driven by a rock solid bass line and some pulsating drumming. There's a nice organ solo about midway through that features emaycee fave hand claps...and did I mention it's a song about a small time hood looking for one last big score before he calls it a career? Throughout, Scaggs vocals (as ever) provide the juice to make it electric. All in all, it's a rock tune from the 70's that, like so many others from that decade, stands the test of time.
Lyric Sheet: "He'll be making like a bee line/Headin' for the borderline/Goin' for broke/Sayin' one more hit ought to do it/This joint ain't nothin' to it..."
And it's off to my original hometown of San Francisco for this week's tune--who knew there were so many cool kids in San...wait, I do--I'm a cool kid dork from The Bay Area...
Romeo Void was formed in 1979 at the San Francisco Art Institute by lead singer Deborah Iyall and bassist Frank Zincavage. Their first album, It's a Condition, is considered by some to be a post-punk classic (sadly, another in a long line of greatly reviewed albums I've never heard--so much good music, so little time...), and they were compared favorably to Joy Division (can definitely hear it), and Gang of Four (not familiar enough with to know). They would follow that up with an EP produced by Ric Ocasek, which contained this week's featured tune, and their second full length album, which yielded their only top forty hit, "A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)" (not my cup of tea). They would release one more LP before disbanding in 1985, though they have reunited on occasion through the years. Lead singer Iyall went on to become an art teacher, and still dabbles in the odd musical side project, and most of the other band members have continued their musical adventure in one incarnation or another. At the end of my weekly half-assed research, I came to the conclusion that for having only released 3 and 1/2 albums, they sure have garnered a lot of critical music cred and that's not a bad legacy for such a short-lived band.
Released on their cleverly named EP, Never Say Never, in 1981, "Never Say Never" never charted as a single, so once again this week we have no shout outs for Billboard magazine. Interestingly, the video for the song was an MTV staple after its release, and is a spoof of Jean Luc-Godard's classic film Breathless (he says like he's some movie connoisseur though the only French film he's ever seen is Amelie, and that was like eighty years ago). The song was also released on their second album, Benefactor, presumably as a way to boost sales....
While I presume the song is about a one-sided sexual attraction, Iyall's lyrics (she is considered one of the better lyricists of her era) are a bit obscure, so it's really anybody's guess. The song is driven (much like Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart") by the bass line (and what a bass line it is), though the jangly guitar (one piece called it jagged, but I'll stick with my favorite guitar description) certainly gives the song nuance. The creme de la creme, though, is the saxophone, which for a new wave/post-punk band of the early 80's is something of a novelty--and really sets the song apart from so many others of its era. Not to be forgotten are Iyall's vocals which really kind of round the song out with their bluntness and cavalier disgust, which never really borders on anger. As I listened to it closely for the first time in years, I was struck by how much it presaged the Alternative movement that would hit in the next ten years. It's a song of and before its time, and a gem of a tune from my city by the bay.
Lyric Sheet: "Old couple walks by, as ugly as sin/But he's got her and she's got him..."
Every now and again, a band has one big commercial hit and makes a career out of it (Edison Lighthouse, "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)", Marcy Playground, "Sex and Candy"). In somewhat of an oddity, Translator managed to make a career out of this week's featured tune, and the song had no commercial success whatsoever (though it did do well on college radio). But, as one critic I read while doing my weekly half-assed research noted, "this is one of music's most glaring should-be-classics."
To steal a line from Frank McCourt, "'Tis."
Translator formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, but because they wanted to be a lot cooler than they already were, decided to move to San Francisco soon thereafter (says the born and bred San Francisco boy). They released their first album in 1982, and would release three more albums in the next three years. They officially broke up in 1986, but as (Kinda/Sorta) One Hit Wonder Bands are wont to do, they have reunited several times through the years, and released their fifth album just last year. Translator has a long history on college radio, and appeals to those with underground/indie/hipster leanings in their musical taste.
Released on their debut album,Heartbeats and Triggersin 1982, "Everywhere That I'm Not" is a shot of anger/bitterness/catharsis from its bass line bum-bum-bum/jangly guitar opening to its vocal cord shredding vocals at the song's close. Along the way we're told a tale of a man who sees a former flame walking down the street, feels her presence in his car, but knows that's impossible because she's everywhere that he's not. There's a killer chorus that opens with a staccato repetition of the word impossible ("That's impossible, that's im-/that's impossible, that im-poss-/that's impossible, that's im-poss-i-ble!") that I've never heard the likes of before (and adds mega points to the song's coolness quotient) which works its way into the places he's not ("You're in New York, but I'm not!"), and (emaycee fave!) which is repeated numerous times throughout. In short, it's one of the best singles the 80's had to offer, hasn't lost any of its oomph in the years since it's release, and is a delightful reminder of the tricks a broken heart can play on the mind.
Liner notes: "I though I saw you/Out on the avenue/But I guess it was just someone/Who looked a lot like I remember you do..."
The average American gets paid just enough so he doesn't quit his job, and works just hard enough so he doesn't get fired.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." Source unknown
Uncle emaycee Wants You For the Coming Class War! Enlist today....
Capitalism: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you can exploit his labor, become filthy rich, and keep the poor bastard living paycheck to paycheck for the rest of his life.
