Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXII--Crowded House: Don't Dream It's Over

 This week we have a wee bit of blue-eyed soul from Down Under....

Crowded House formed in 1985 in Melbourne, Australia when two members of New Zealand band Split Enz, decided to make a go of it in a new formation.  Neil Finn and Paul Hester (who sadly took his own life in 2005) and their bandmates would achieve hella success in their native countries of New Zealand and Australia as well as a few hits in both the U.S. and the U.K.  Finn and Nick Seymour have been the only two constants in Crowded House, which originally recorded from 1985-1996, before taking a ten year hiatus.  The band returned for five more years, took five years off, had a one off tour in 2016, and reunited again in 2019 and remain together today, hoping to release a new album next year after the pandemic put off their plans for this year.  For their career, they have released six studio albums (four #1's in Australia, two in New Zealand, with all others hitting no lower than #3--plus a #12 on the Billboard 200), four live albums, and four compilations.  They've also released 33 singles with two top ten hits in both Australia and the States.  They have won 13 ARIA's (Australian Grammy), three of the New Zealand equivalent of a Grammy, and one MTV Award.  The band's success has also resulted in numerous solo albums for its members, as well as a number of producing credits.  All in all, the members of Crowded House have had a damn good run over the course of the last thirty-five years.

Fun Fact:  In a survey of the greatest songs in the history of Australia and New Zealand, this week's tune finished seventh and second, respectively.  Not a bad highlight for a musical career resume....

"Don't Dream It's Over" was the fourth single from Crowded House's 1986 debut LP, entitled surprisingly enough, Crowded House.  The song would reach #2 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 in Canada and New Zealand (so many cool kids in Canada and New Zealand!), but surprisingly only #8 in Australia.  The album hit #1 in Australia, #3 in New Zealand, and would be their biggest U.S. hit, reaching #12.

As of today, my list of songs to be featured on Friday Night Jukebox each week runs through January of 2025, and I usually have a good two years worth of songs to write about at any time.  So it's a bit surprising that a couple of years back when I was jotting down tunes to be featured at the end of a year in which we faced an unprecedented pandemic, horrific economic hardship, and a  Presidential candidate who has been insufferable in his whining over soundly losing a free and fair election that the last song of the year that I'd choose would be a song about...persevering through adversity.  (If only I could be so prescient just once concerning a Mega Millions drawing....)  Anyhoo, "Don't Dream It's Over" is a wonderful slice of pop soul, featuring an inspiring vocal from Neil Finn, some tasty lyrics, and a melody that's as sweet as a baby's first smile.  And yes, it's a nice reminder that quitting isn't nearly as fulfilling as continuing that search for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  As for me, I'm just going to "Hey now, hey now" my way into the hopefully good graces of 2021....

Lyric Sheet:  "There's a battle ahead/Many battles are lost/But you'll never see the end of the road/While you're traveling with me/Hey now, hey now...

Enjoy:

340,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CVII--Ted Leo and the Pharmacists: Stove by a Whale

Truth be told, other than "Stove by a Whale," I don't know jackshit  by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.  And while this is true to a certain extent with some of the other songs featured here on FNJ  ("Bittersweet" by the Hoodoo Gurus or "Stupid" by the Long Winters), I've at least heard the album it appeared on or another song or two by the band.  Not so, with Ted Leo--I know nothing.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists began in 1999 in Washington, D.C. and are still recording and touring to this day, though the only constant in the band is Ted Leo as the Pharmacists have gone through numerous incarnations.  They've released seven LPs. several EPs, and a handful of singles, and near as I can tell have never had one that anywhere near resembled a hit record.  Through their steady touring they've developed something of a loyal following, but if I had my guess, it would be that 99.9 percent of the people in the world have no idea there is such a band and probably never will.

All of which, once again, shows the magic that is pop music:  how often does some out of nowhere band or solo artist produce a song that you've heard by a fluke occurrence ("Stove by a Whale" came with another in a long list of assists from my daughter) and come to spend the rest of your life loving though with the plethora of music released each year and the constraints of time it's virtually a miracle it ever came to your ear?

Originally, I thought "Stove by a Whale" was an environmental song, some kind of comment on the pollution in our oceans (you know, someone had been on the beach or on a boat, and had seen a whale swimming with a discarded stove floating nearby), but, as is often the case, I was nowhere near right.  Stove, which is the past tense of "to stave" actually means to smash a hole into to something, and the reference comes from Herman Melville's Moby Dick (though it seems to have many other sources as well, as whaling was once quite the profession).  All of which is zero help in explaining the meaning of the song, which some have noted has something to do with some kind of personal liberation, but means fuck all for all I know.

Released on technically the band's first album (Leo had released an album before under that moniker, but it was actually a solo effort), The Tyranny of Distance (the title taken from a Split Enz song called "Six Months in a Leaky Boat"), "Stove by a Whale" is as 70's rock influenced as anything the White Stripes have ever done.  An eight minute and two second tour de force, the song starts with a throbbing pair of guitars that sound almost like dueling foghorns (sounds crazy, but it really works).  It then weaves its way into Leo's vocals which venture from a rant into a scream with a staccato delivery (again, crazy but it works).  The vocals end at about the four minute mark and the song cascades into the foghorn guitars before turning to a more traditional guitar solo that is layered with an hypnotic bass for the final four minutes.  I could see how the song would not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're looking for something a bit avant garde with a 70's sensibility, this is the song for you.

Liner notes:  "Not in what you hear, but feel, surreally thrust between/What accents mean and what you think they should..."  (Yeah, I have no idea, either, but it sounds really cool...)

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee