Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CXXXV--Crash Test Dummies: Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm

While I understand that this week's tune may not be everyone's cup of tea, for me, it's one of the many reasons that my love and fascination with pop music has never died.  It's an out of left field masterpiece, and nearly twenty-five years from the first time I heard it, it still amazes me with its compassion and surprises me with its musical nuances.

Like the sexual proclivities of many a young American teenage boy, the Crash Test Dummies met with much more success in their native Canada than they ever did here in the states.  Starting out in Winnipeg, Manitoba as a bar band circa 1988, within three years they released their debut album which went gold in Canada and won them a Juno for group of the year.  While the only constant in the band has been lead guitarist and vocalist Brad Roberts (though several other band members stuck around for the first 15-20 years), the band has been recording studio albums off and on since its inception, now numbering nine.  They went on to receive ten more Juno nominations, and were also nominated for three Grammys.  Interestingly (or not). though the bulk of the band no longer records together, they keep in touch, and most of them are busy raising families and working regular jobs (even Brad Roberts taught school for a while in the 2000's).  I guess it ain't all party, party, party if you're a rock and roll star....

Released in 1993 on their God Shuffled His Feet LP (which is probably in the running for one of the ten best album titles ever), "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" would reach #4 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 in Germany and Australia (surprisingly, the song only reached #14 in the band's homeland).  The song is comprised of three vignettes (a boy whose hair turned bright white after a severe auto accident, a girl with birth marks all over her body, a boy whose church's members throw themselves about on the floor) about kids, who through either accident, birth, or fate are outcasts of a sort who find themselves trying to explain the unexplainable.  The song is sung by Roberts in a bass baritone (thank God Wikipedia knew what his vocals were called because the best I would have come up with was...bizarre? different? ominous?) that really sets it apart from just about any other vocals you've ever heard, and the music is, well, understated but like a clock reflecting the time, it underscores the sorrow at the heart of the song.  In the end, I'd be hard pressed to name a song that was more compassionate, both for those with an unplanned lot in life and those of us who watch them with a quiet awe as they push ever forward.

Fun Fact:  Roberts hummed the chorus (and didn't write any lyrics) because he thought it sounded more resigned than if he had sung it.  Proof that sometimes, despite what Mr. Edison said, genius is 99% inspiration...

Lyric Sheet:  "But both girl and boy were glad/'Cause one kid had it worse than that..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CXXVI--Bachman-Turner Overdrive: Takin' Care of Business

One of the first recollections I have of this week's tune is of an air band formed in the year of its release by me (air guitar), my brother (air drums), and my brother's friend (air guitar as well) and it being one of the essential songs in our air repertoire on those few nights our parents went out and gave us the run of the house.

And yes, yes--my time as a Prince of Dorkdom began very early in my life.

Originally formed in 1971 in Winnipeg, Manitoba as Brave Belt (first good career move:  renaming band), Bachman-Turner Overdrive had a string of hits from 1974 to 1977 that are still staples of AOR radio to this day.   Led by Randy Bachman (who also had some success with the Guess Who), BTO released nine studio albums, had twelve top 100 hits, five live albums, and, uh, eleven compilation albums (the cash must be good when you're a great singles band).  In the years since their heyday, they've had roughly a zillion lineup changes, several lawsuits, and much bad blood, but they're still touring and releasing the odd single.  They also have been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and they won several Junos (Canadian Grammy) in the 70's.

Fun Fact:  Elvis (Presley, not Costello) was a big fan of this week's tune and supposedly did a cover version of it that will probably never be released.  Bummer--it might actually be worth a listen and it certainly couldn't be any worse that some of the shit cover songs music industry cretins have released through the years....

Released in 1974 from their cleverly titled second LP, Bachman-Turner Overdrive II, "Takin' Care of Business"is considered "the Provincial rock anthem of Manitoba" (hey--you take your accolades where you can get them in this goofy old world) and is one of the ten most covered rock songs of all-time.  It reached #12 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100 and celebrates what has been a theme of FNJ numerous times this year:  being a musician is a much better career than being a retail manager (duh!).  Opening with some killer three chord guitar riffs, joined by a honky tonk piano, and some deft solo guitar, and livened by power drumming throughout, "Takin' Care of Business" is a joyous romp through the perks and promises of being a musician.  Bachman's throaty vocals are both light-hearted and encouraging--hell, he even tells you if you get sick of the 9 to 5 grind, that you can pick up a guitar and be a musician, too (hey, who needs this "slavin' job" anyway?).  It's a power pop gem and a perfect encapsulation of so much of what was right about music in the 1970's.

Lyric Sheet: "Get a second-hand guitar/Chances are you'll go far/If you get in with the right bunch of fellows...."

Enjoy (and please note that I own a 45 just like the one that provides the background for the video--can you say "old fart" boys and girls?):

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee