Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DLXXXVI--George Ezra: Budapest

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind, the answer is...that I'm (twelve days) late again....

My introduction to this week's tune came when I wrote about the one song I knew by this week's artist.  On a whim I gave one of his bigger hits mentioned in Wikipedia a listen, and it was kismet--I fell in love with it immediately.  On a side note, I now know two songs by this week's artist....

I wrote about George Ezra in Vol. CDXLVII, in 2023, and according to Wikipedia he has done nothing musically or in the entertainment realm in the last approximately three years.  Don't ever remember that happening for an artist still pretty much in his prime, but one of the many things I've learned in my many years is that there's a first time for almost everything....

"Budapest" was the second single from Ezra's 2013 debut album, with the rather well-travelled title Wanted on Voyage.  The song hit #3 in the U.K., #32 (with a bullet!) in the U.S., and #1 in Austria, New Zealand, and Slovenia (so many cool kids...around the world!).  The album reached #1 in Great Britain, #19 in America, and crashed the top ten in nine other nations.

Fun Fact:  Ezra was a big fan of Paddington Bear when he was young, and on Paddington's suitcase was a sticker that said "Wanted on Voyage"--thus the title for this week's album.  Back in the day when people travelled by ship to other countries, they would put stickers with "Wanted on Voyage" on their luggage so that it would remain with them rather than go in the cargo hold.  As Ezra did a lot of travelling around Europe as he was writing songs for his debut album, he thought it a fitting title.

No matter how hard I try, I'm not going to be able to do justice to this week's tune.  Ezra has stated that he used the first three chords he was taught on guitar for the song (so much to be said for simplicity), and that it was his first attempt at writing a love song (resounding success).  Lyrically, Ezra takes a man who has everything but would be willing to throw it all away for her love, riches and family be damned--and does it with lyrics that are not your standard love song fare.  His vocals are transcendent--he has these odd inflections that take the song to unforeseen heights, and his "you-ooh, you-ooh" is absolutely to die for.  Musically it's as catchy of a piece of pop pie as you'll ever hear, and it stays in your head and your soul and fills in the beautiful blanks in your day.  Just a wonderful pop ballad--as good of a song as I've heard in the last ten years.

Lyric Sheet:  "My acres of land/That I've achieved/It may be hard for you/To stop and believe/But for you/Ooh, you/Ooh, I'd leave it all..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

America: Land of the Pedophiles

The sudden arrest of the former Prince Andrew is the latest sign that the rest of the world is much more serious about Epstein-related crimes than the current US leader www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live...

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— David Beard (@dabeard.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 5:37 AM

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

 

The GOP is covering up for pedophiles

Todd Blanche says the Epstein files provide no basis for criminal investigations. But as of this morning they have fueled the opening of criminal probes in the UK, France, Germany, Slovakia, Poland and Norway... and that's only the ones that have become public.

— Scott Horton (@robertscotthorton.bsky.social) February 5, 2026 at 12:51 PM

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

 

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DLXXVI--Paul McCartney and Wings: Jet

 Love you every day, girl, always on my mind, one thing I can say, girl...is that I'm (over two weeks late--Jesus H., what the hell am I doing with my time?) late again....

Alas, my introduction to this week's song was little more than its release in 1974.  I will say, though, that it came out when I was first becoming enamored of pop music, when I would listen to the radio for hours waiting to hear a current fave, much like this week's tune....

After the Beatles (he gives a link, even though the most technologically inept person in the world could find out just about anything about the band) break-up, Paul McCartney (ditto this link) recorded two solo albums before starting another band, Wings, which he would remain with for the next ten years (1971-1981).  I think it's often overlooked, as whatever McCartney has done has pretty much been credited to, well, McCartney, that he was actually in two bands.  Not much more to add--it's Paul McCartney for Christ's sake--though I did write about a song of his in Vol. CCCIII, as well as two Beatles' songs (here and here), and one absolutely incredible Beatles' album.  And, in the immortal words of Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.

"Jet" was the first single released from Wings' third album, the rather elusively named Band on the Run.  The single would hit #7 (with a bullet!) in the U.S., and also in the U.K. (coincidence or lucky roll of the dice?).  The album hit number one in each nation.

Fun Fact: [Blogger's Aside:  Any of my loyal readers (all three of you) who are devotee's of lyrics may want to skip this week's fact.]  "Jet" got its title from either a dog (original McCartney claim) or a horse (later McCartney claim).  Regardless, it has nothing to do with the song, which is about McCartney meeting his future wife's father, who was something of a hardass and didn't much care for pop stars (I know--he was a fucking Beatle! Give it a rest!).  Also, the word "suffragette," which appears several times in the song, has nothing to do with anything--McCartney thought it was a goofy word and liked the way it sounded.

From it's in your face blasting horns beginning with the band shouting "Jet!" in tandem, McCartney and Wings take us on a magical journey that reminds us yet again how unbelievably good the music of the seventies was.  Plenty of 'ooh-ooh-ooh's," a stellar vocal performance from McCartney, and rock-solid rocking from the band.  A couple of points:  First, it's easy to forget, especially with how many ballads or soft rock tunes McCartney did as he career progressed, that McCartney could flat out rock with the best of them.  Second, with the amount of weak tunes McCartney released in his later years (with a few exceptions), sometimes it's also easy to forget that he also had a hell of a solo career.  There were a lot of smiles this week as I listened to it, as well as a lot of shaking my head as to just how great of a song it was.  Suffragette!

Lyric Sheet:  "Jet, with the wind in your hair of a thousand laces/Climb on the back, and we'll go for a ride in the sky.."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,

Peace,

emaycee

Stand tall, Europe--the American people are counting on you

BREAKING: Statement by Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom:

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— Peter Stefanovic (@peterstefanovic.bsky.social) January 18, 2026 at 9:05 AM

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

 

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DLXIX--Rod Stewart: Maggie May

 I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now...I'm (only six days?) late again....

My introduction to this week's tune is probably the fact that I was born.  It's one of rock's most iconic songs, and beyond a shadow of a doubt the signature song of this week's artist.  And it's probably somewhere on just about every list of the greatest rock songs ever, and most deservedly so....

Though I really love (early) Rod Stewart, I probably wouldn't put him in my top ten favorite artists ever, but oddly enough, no one is even close when it comes to appearances here on Friday Night Jukebox.  Thus far, Stewart has had three posts on singles of his (Vol. III--going back a a long way! Vol. XXXVI, and Vol. CCCLIV), one post on my album of the year writings (amazingly enough, this week's tune is from that very album--Vol. CCXXXII), three posts as the lead singer of the Faces (Vol. CCXXVI, Vol. CDVII, and Vol. DXXXVI), and one as the lead vocalist on a Jeff Beck single (Vol. CCCXXXI).  Which means this is the ninth time his work has been featured here, which is really saying something (to steal a song title).  And somehow, through all of those, I managed to never post a link to Stewart's discography, which I'll rectify here.  Stewart released his last studio album in 2024 and was on tour this year at the ripe old age of eighty until illness forced him to cancel dates.

"Maggie May" was released in 1971 on the definitive--and one of my five favorite albums of all time--Rod Stewart album, Every Picture Tells a Story.  The single hit #1 (with a bullet in America!) in both the U.S. and the U.K., while reaching the top five in nine other countries, somehow hitting only #11 in Germany (what the fuck, Germany?  It hit number 8 in fucking Zimbabwe for Christ's sake....).  It's listed at #130 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time, and at #182 on Billboard's

list of their All-Time charts.

Fun Fact:  "Maggie May" was originally released as the B-side of "Reason to Believe."  Radio stations quickly picked up on the brilliance of the B-side and turned it into a hit.  Good call radio stations!

This week's tune is kind of a cheat, as I wrote about it when I wrote about Every Picture Tells a Story:

"Maggie May":  The song that made Stewart a star--and rightfully so.  A #1 hit here and in the U.K., it's smart pop for the masses as Stewart spins the tale of a young man in love with an older woman who's making a fool of him, but he just can't leave her even though he knows he should.  Great drumming again from Waller, great guitar from Wood, stunning mandolin work from Lindsay Jackson, and an impassioned performance from Stewart.  Little known fact:  there's an instrumental intro to the song called "Henry" that in some versions is treated as an intro and in others as a separate (though at 32 seconds, very short) song.  Favorite line:  "I suppose I could collect my books and get on back to school/Or steal my Daddy's cue and make a living out of playing pool/ Or find myself a rock and roll band that needs a helpin' hand..."

Not much I can add to that, other than that the song is actually autobiographical)--I just felt the song was so good that it deserved its very own post.  I have a hunch there's a couple of other songs featured on album posts that will get this very same treatment someday....

Lyric Sheet:  [Blogger's Note:  Going to use a different line than the one above because it's my prerogative, to steal another song title....] "Maggie, I wished I'd never seen your face/I'll get on back home one of these days/[Another Blogger's Note:  One of the truly great "ooh-oohs of all-time] Ooh, ooh..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DXLIX--The Kinks: Catch Me Now I'm Falling

 I've got to admit (my lateness is) getting better, getting a little better all the time (it can't get no worse)....

My introduction to this week's tune came courtesy of a young man (now pretty much my age if he's still among the living) named Jeff who worked at the store in Huntsville, Alabama where I trained to be a manager for Camelot Music.  Jeff was a drummer in a punk band and wasn't all that thrilled with most of the albums we had open for instore play, but he did love a Kinks live album called One for the Road (released on my twenty-first birthday no less) and played it whenever he got a chance to put on a record.  It was chock full of Kinks' hits, all played with the gusto you'd hope for while seeing them live.  Among those hits was our song of the week, which I fell in love with almost immediately in the late summer of 1980....

I wrote about the Kinks in Jukebox Vol. CCX, and as the band has still not reunited since their breakup in 1997 and no one from the band has headed for The Great Rock and Roll Concert in the Sky (thankfully) I'm just going to let that bio stand.  I will note, though, that over the past few years my appreciation for the Kinks has done nothing but grow (largely due to finding their brilliant album Muswell Hillbillies at a library sale for a dollar), and I still think that while I wouldn't say they were underappreciated, they certainly haven't received the recognition they should have.

"Catch Me Now I'm Falling" was the second single released from their 1979 album, the rather bargain basement entitled Low Budget.  The song did not chart, while the album reached #11 on the Billboard 200.

Fun Fact:  I was actually reintroduced to this week's tune when I found One for the Road for a dollar at our library's annual sale (I have some seriously good luck at library sales) a few years back.  I'm not usually a big fan of live albums, but I have to admit it was every bit as good as it was when I first heard it in 1980.  

Until my reintroduction to "Catch Me Now I'm Falling," I'd always thought the song was a call from a guy looking for a helping hand from those he'd helped before.  Little did I know the song was actually a diatribe against those allies of America who were helped by the U.S. in their time of need yet abandoned her in the late seventies when times were a little tough (most notably during the Iran Hostage Crisis of '79-'81).  That being said, it's still a hell of a rock and roll record, with lots of killer guitar from Dave Davies, inspired lyrics and vocals from Ray Davies, and a plethora of powerful instrumental breaks.  There's a ton of repetition in the lyrics, but it really works.  You can also see why it was included on a live album--this one is made for the concert show with the flashing lights and the exploding amps.   All in all, just a stellar effort from a band at the height of its musical prowess.

Lyric Sheet:  "Now I'm calling on citizens from all over the world/This is Captain America calling/I bailed you out when you were down on your knees/So will you catch me now I'm falling..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DXLV--Wreckless Eric: Whole Wide World

Once again, it's too late for goodbyes....

For the second straight week, I have to sheepishly admit that my introduction to this week's tune was a TV commercial, that being an Expedia commercial from 2022 featuring Ewan McGregor.  There's just a snippet of the song at the end, but it was enough to catch my attention and warrant an online search.  Funny thing, though--it was originally released in 1977 and is considered a punk classic.  That's my era and a genre I'm very familiar with, but in the end it's just another in a long list of ways that music surprises us....

Wreckless Eric (Eric Goulden) (born 1954 in the U.K.) got his start in 1973 when he began attending Art School--he became interested in the local music scene and joined a few bands along the way.  By 1977 he was one of the first to join Stiff Records--with such future musical luminaries as Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, and Devo.  He also released his first album, which had a modicum of commercial success.  Wreckless Eric was able to parlay that early success into a now nearly fifty-year career.  He's been in four different bands, lived in France and the United States (his now home), and currently makes music with his wife, Amy Rigby.  For his career, he's released nine albums as Wreckless Eric, one as Eric Goulden, six with his bands, and three with his wife.  He's been a part of fourteen compilations and released fourteen singles in all of his musical incarnations.  Any way you shake it, that's a pretty long and varied career.

"Whole Wide World" was originally released in 1977 on Wreckless Eric's debut album, the rather cleverly named Wreckless Eric.  The single did not chart, while the album reached #46 on the U.K. Albums Chart.

Fun Fact:  "Whole Wide World" was written in 1974 and was the first song he ever recorded.  It was originally released on the compilation A Bunch of Stiff Records in 1977.  So Wreckless Eric, who technically did not have a hit single with this week's song, built his fifty-year career on the first recording he ever made.

Opening with a guitar that mimics a ticking clock, Wreckless Eric weaves the tale of a young man looking for love--who will admittedly "go the whole wide world" to find it (though he seems to think he's going to find it on a tropical island--probably because of his Mom).  The song builds from a softly played and sung intro to an absolute explosion as the narrator's urgency hits a ten.  There's a couple of odd (but noticeable) bass quirks, as well as one on the drums that became something I actually waited for.  In the end, Wreckless Eric's vocals (note that this is one of the few songs sung by someone British in which you can still hear the accent) seal the deal--there's a searing intensity combined with a youthful exuberance that drives the song to its greatness.  If you're going to have one hit, you want it to be just like this one.

Lyric Sheet:  "Why am I hangin' around in the rain out here, tryin' to pick up a girl?/Why are my eyes fillin' up with these lonely tears, when there's girls all over the world?"

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

So much winning

Our trade deal so far is no tariffs on Rolls Royces and Bentleys and our refugee policy is white South Africans only.

— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) May 10, 2025 at 8:17 PM

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

 

A man of the (rich) people

Laser focused on reducing prices for everyday Americans from Day One, the President has struck a deal that will lower the price of Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Jaguars, Aston Martin's, Range Rovers, and Minis. *No other consumer good received carveouts.

— Justin Wolfers (@justinwolfers.bsky.social) May 8, 2025 at 1:34 PM

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

 

Fake deals

This loser is so desperate for a win he’s hyping up a hypothetical minuscule tariff deal that only he could’ve negotiated. 🤡

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— Mickey Kuhns (@mickeykuhns.bsky.social) May 8, 2025 at 1:50 PM

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

 

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DXXXVI--Faces: Open to Ideas

And it's too late, baby, now it's too late (to blatantly steal a phrase)....

This week's tune was originally slated to be the first post I wrote about a song by this week's artist, but then I worried that this song was a little too obscure and changed it to "Ooh La La."  Almost immediately after I posted that one it dawned on me that one of the reasons I started Friday Night Jukebox was to feature obscure album cuts and added it back to my list.  Only took me roughly six years to get back to it....

This will mark the third song by the Faces that I have written about (Vol. CCXXVI and Vol. CDVII) and as the remaining three members are still alive and I've posted about the deaths of the other two there's precious little to add.  So we'll call it a day on the bio paragraph....

"Open to Ideas" was released as a previously unreleased song on their 1999 retrospective, the rather drowsily entitled Good Boys...When They're Asleep.  As the song was previously unreleased you'll be shocked to learn that it wasn't released as a single, while the album peaked at #87 in Scotland and #79 in the U.K. on their respective charts.

Fun Fact:  "Open to Ideas" was a leftover from the band's final session together circa 1973.  And as the old saying goes, better late than never....

There is no one on this planet who was a better practitioner of blue-eyed soul than Rod Stewart back in the day, and "Open to Ideas" is a stellar piece of blue-eyed soul.  Stewart weaves the tale of a man trying to get in touch via the phone with his girlfriend who is taking a break from their relationship.  And in a plaintive yet soul searching vocal he's letting her know that he's, well, open to ideas about how to continue with their relationship.  The band--Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagan, Ronnie Lane, and Kenney Jones--do a marvelous job of subtly keeping the groove going.  Wood gives a nice short guitar solo in the closing instrumental, while the rest of the band closes it out with all the grace it can muster.  Just a beautiful, beautiful ballad of a man coming to terms with the depth of his love, and the limits to holding on to it.

Lyric Sheet:  "Strange that I don't need no break to find out/What it's all about/You and me baby make it really work/But I don't give a damn to shout..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DXXXV--Fatboy Slim: The Rockafeller Skank

Once again, late for the sky....

I'm relatively sure my introduction to this week's tune was a music video, but whether it was on MTV or Much Music I can't recall.  I do remember that it was one of those songs that struck me instantly, and that I wanted to hear again--and the sooner the better....

I wrote about Fatboy Slim (aka, Norman Cook) in Vol. CCLIV, so I'll dispense with the bio for this week.  In the six years since that post, Mr. Cook continued to make music until late 2024, when he decided to give up creating music to concentrate on his DJ performances.  He was also nominated for a Tony Award (along with Talking Heads' frontman David Byrne) for writing the score for the musical Here Lies Love.  

"The Rockafella Skank" was the first single from Fatboy Slim's breakthrough album, the rather smokingly entitled You've Come a Long Way Baby.  The single would reach #6 in his native U.K., and #76 here in America.  Though I've noted the album before, as a reminder it hit #1 in Great Britain, and #34 in the United States.

Fun Fact:  "The Rockafella Skank" samples nine different songs, and Mr. Cook has stated that in order to get permission he had to release 100% of the song's royalties and has not received a penny of said royalties for himself.

In some ways (especially lyrically) "The Rockafeller Skank" seems to accomplish a lot with very little, but after doing my half-assed research I learned that Fatboy Slim created a truly wondrous piece of music with an awful lot of help (see "Fun Fact" above).  The song basically repeats the same two lines again and again (which makes the song's captivation all the more amazing), though what I've thought for years was sound effects turned out to actually be a lyric, repeating the word "rock" rapidly (and adding in a "rockafeller" here and there for shits and grins, one supposes).  I noted last week that sometimes a song just has a good groove, and I should note this week that "The Rockafeller Skank" just has a momentous groove.  Twenty years before hearing it I never would have imagined that such a song would fill my soul, but that's one of the continuing wonders of my musical adventure--and why it's included here in the annals of Friday Night Jukebox.

Lyric Sheet:  "Right about now, the funk soul brother/Check it out now, the funk soul brother..."

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DXXXIII--David Essex: Rock On

It might be, it could be, it is...three weeks in a row on time....

 

It was the spring and summer of 1974 when my musical journey began in earnest, so this week's featured tune would have been...a hit right before that, but still close enough for rock and roll.  It was all over the radio when my family moved to Indiana in December of 1973 (first week's big surprise?  Twenty inches of snow and the discovery of snow days), so it most assuredly had to be WLS-89 out of Chicago where I heard it again and again because it would be a couple more years before we owned a car that had that new-fangled FM radio....

Every now and again here on Friday Night Jukebox, I come across an artist that I had thought was a one hit wonder but actually had quite a successful career, and David Essex would be one such case.  Born in Essex, U.K. in 1947, he originally had dreams of a soccer career but turned to music in his teens.  Essex released his first single in 1975 (ripe old age of eighteen) and toured with his first band, David Essex and Mood Indigo, for two years.  He'd release seven more singles and star in Godspell before the double whammy of starring in the critically acclaimed coming of age movie That'll Be the Day and the international success of our single of the week.  While the song would be his only international fame, he parlayed the two into nineteen top forty singles and sixteen top forty albums in his native Great Britain, and would have numerous acting roles in movies, television, and theater there as well.  For his career, Essex has released twenty-six studio albums, five live albums, and sixty-eight singles (not to mention numerous soundtracks and cast recordings).  He continues to release new music on his own label and still tours the U.K. every year.

Fun Fact:  As I was doing my half-assed research for the week, I had a feeling that back in the day I'd seen Essex in a movie about a fictional musician but when I read the synopsis of That'll Be the Day it didn't seem familiar.  As I read more, I learned that Essex starred in a sequel to that film called Stardust, and when I read the ending to that film it came back to me as it's not an ending you're likely to forget.  

"Rock On" was the first single released from his 1973 album, the rather correspondingly named Rock On.  The single would reach #5 (with a bullet!) in the U.S. and #3 in the U.K.  The album hit #32 here in America and #7 in Great Britain.  It should be noted again this week, that our neighbors to the north delivered a #1 for "Rock On," proving yet again that there are so, so, so many cool kids in Canada!

You know you're onto something special when the Wikipedia entry for the single is about five times as long as the entry for the album.  And special "Rock On" is--just a bass guitar (one of the greatest bass lines ever), percussion, and a smattering of carefully inserted strings and horns.  Essex's vocals are enhanced with plenty of reverberation as he delivers a paean to rock and roll's past...and its future.  Extra, extra credit for slyly name checking Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" and Carl Perkin's "Blue Suede Shoes," as well as giving a shout out to the colossus of cool, James Dean.  A tour de force, a signature song of the seventies--if you're going to have one moment of rock and roll greatness, "Rock On" is the moment you'd want.

Lyric Sheet:  "Hey, shout, summertime blues/Jump up and down in your blue suede shoes..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

This is how you do it

BREAKING: France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain & UK sign a joint statement vowing to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty & demanding a role in the peace talks. This is leadership. It’s also unprecedented. A western alliance is having to form against a new, twin & united threat: Trump & Putin.

[image or embed]

— News Eye (@newseye.bsky.social) February 12, 2025 at 5:29 PM

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

 

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DXXV--Gerry Rafferty: Baker Street

So far behind now I might never get caught up....

My introduction to this week's tune was WLS-89 out of Chicago in 1978, the year it became a big hit for this week's featured artist.  Oddly enough, I didn't care for it in its original run, and it was only years later that I began to appreciate its greatness.  Better late than never....

I briefly touched on Gerry Rafferty when I wrote about his original band Stealer's Wheel in Vol. CCCLXXII, but as his career stretched out for many more years I'll do a proper bio paragraph.  After his time in Stealer's Wheel, Rafferty hit mega stardom in the late seventies, and sadly his career never recovered from it.  Over the course of the next three decades Rafferty would continue to record, but his discomfort with the trappings of fame would only fuel his alcoholism and his withdrawal from society.  For his career, Rafferty released eleven studio albums (one #1 in the U.S. and two top fives in the U.K.), and twenty singles with a top five in America and two more top fives in Great Britain.  Rafferty's behavior veered erratic as his alcoholism worsened in his last years, and he succumbed to liver failure in 2011.

"Baker Street" was the second single from Rafferty's 1978 album, the rather urbanly named City to City.  The song would reach #2 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 in his native U.K.  The album would be the only #1 of his career here in the States and would peak at #6 on U.K. Album Chart.

Fun Fact:  While doing my half-assed research, I came across this line in Wikipedia:  "[The sax solo] is said to have been responsible for a resurgence in the sales of saxophones and their use in mainstream pop music and television advertising."  Ahem.  Nothing against the brilliant sax solo, but it seems to me there was this kid Springsteen with a sax player something something Clemons that lit the saxophone scene just a few years before....

"Baker Street" opens with an eerie, smoky sax solo and you immediately know you're headed into territories unknown.  While largely autobiographical, the song has echoes of feelings so many of us know:  waiting for the one lucky break, the chance that there's a start for something new.  Rafferty nails just about every aspect of this one--the lyrics are damn near literary, his vocals capture the joy and pain of his protagonists, the killer sax solo, a killer guitar solo, and a man making the most of his abilities.  In the end, it's a song about hope, even if in all likelihood it's a false hope.  For even a false hope is better than no hope.  Thus endeth the lesson....

Lyric Sheet: "Windin' your way down on Baker Street/Light in your head and dead on your feet/Well another crazy day, you'll drink the night away/And forget about everything..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

So much for Trump lifting our standing in the world

And the rest of the world says;

[image or embed]

— catsgotbaggage.bsky.social (@catsgotbaggage.bsky.social) January 21, 2025 at 6:36 PM

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

 

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DVI--Elvis Costello: Alison

We're back to Any Old Day Emaycee Feels Like Jukebox....

This week's featured tune is the one that made me an Elvis Costello fan--the first song to stand out for me on his heralded and incredible debut album.  How the song never became a massive chart hit will always be one of music's great mysteries...well, at least to me....

I wrote about Elvis Costello in Jukebox, Vol. CXXXIV, and as it was a quite nice write up (if I do say so myself) of a very successful, sweeping, and varied musical career, I'll just leave it there and move on to the next paragraph....

[Say...how many paragraphs can we end with an ellipsis?]

"Alison" was the first single from Costello's seminal debut album, the rather honestly named My Aim Is 
True.  While the single did not chart in the U.S, the U.K., or Canada upon its release, from the Better Late Than Never Files it was ranked #318 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  The album would fare much better, reaching #14 in the U.K., #24 in Canada, and #32 in America.

Fun Fact:  Linda Ronstadt did a cover version of "Alison" (big fan of Ms. Ronstadt but not her rendition of it) that Costello openly derided.  He did admit in later years, though, that he certainly didn't mind spending the royalty checks her version brought him.

Through the course of our lives, there are many of us who, at one time or another, were enamored of someone with a significant other who was less than the perfect mate and thought to ourselves "I'd be better for so-and-so than that loser."  Well, Elvis Costello put that thought into song with "Alison."  A beautiful ballad, with heartfelt vocals from Costello (especially love the way he uses cadence--staccato-- to make the song even more powerful), a sweet guitar that echoes his plaintive wail, and some cryptic lyrics from Costello, the song ranks with Pearl Jam's "Black," Linda Ronstadt's "Long, Long Time," the Carpenter's "Superstar," and I'm sure one or two more that don't come quickly to mind as one of the all-time great paeans to unrequited love.  Does it say something about me that I've written a Jukebox post on each of them?  Probably, but we'll save that for my (who the hell would ever care) biography.  A wonderful song that I never, ever get tired of--a dream ballad.

Lyric Sheet:  "I'm not going to get too sentimental/Like those other sticky valentines/'Cause I don't know if you were loving somebody/I only know it isn't mine..."

Enjoy:

Republicans = Nazis

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CDXCVIII--Donovan: Sunshine Superman

 At least I'm keeping it to three or four four or five days late and not a week....

Much like last week's tune, this week's featured song brings no recollection of when I first became aware of it or heard it.  Due to its unique sound, it's possible I could have heard it on a top forty station or an AOR station--but with its release date of 1966, the one thing I can guarantee you is that I wasn't on the Donovan bandwagon at age seven....

Donovan Phillips Leitch (hereafter Donovan) was born in Scotland in 1946.  He began playing guitar at the age of fourteen, and by the time he was nineteen he'd had a top five hit in his native U.K.  After another year he had a #1 hit single in America, and his success would continue into the early seventies before petering out.  Donovan is considered one of the progenitors of psychedelic rock, and in 2012 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  For his career, he has released twenty-nine studio albums, eight live albums, sixty-two (!) compilations, and thirty-three singles.  Donovan released his latest album in 2022 and is taking this year off to prepare for a sixtieth anniversary tour next year.  Donovan dabbled in acting in his heyday, appearing in three films, and his two oldest children, Donovan Leitch and Ione Skye are both actors.

"Sunshine Superman" was originally released as a single before being added to a cash grab album, the not so originally named Sunshine Superman.  The single would become the highest charting of his career in both the U.S. (#1--with a bullet!) and the U.K. (#2).  The album would be his highest charting album in America, peaking at #11.

Fun Fact:  Two of the studio musicians on "Sunshine Superman' were bassist John Paul Jones and guitarist Jimmy Page, who went on to form a somewhat successful band you may have heard of:  Led Zeppelin.

You can tell the special quality of a song when you listen to it, and think, "That's from the sixties"...and yet it still sounds as fresh as if it had been released this year.  It's equal parts Donovan's vocals (love the way he adds an extra syllable here and there throughout the song--like "a-thinkin'"), Page's otherworldly guitar, and the overarching sparseness of the music.  Donovan was twenty when "Sunshine Superman" was released, and his musical and lyrical intuition shows an acumen well beyond his years.  As a side note:  Donovan wrote the song for a woman he was attracted to, who initially did not share his interest in pursuing a relationship.  They had a chance meeting in the early seventies, were married shortly thereafter, and are still together to this day.  True love wins in the end....

Lyric Sheet:  "I'll pick up your hand and slowly/Blow your little mind/'Cause I made my mind up/You're going to be mine..."

Enjoy:

Republicans = Nazis

Peace,

emaycee

Come November, it's our turn

UK said no to fascism
France said no to fascism
It's our turn 🇺🇸

— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) July 7, 2024

Republicans = Nazis

Peace,

emaycee