Hell City Songs Blog

I Had a Dream Last Night

I was talking to Melanie in this dream. You know (or maybe you don't), Melanie - Candles In The Rain, Brand New Key, What Have They Done To My Song Ma. And I was telling her how much I enjoyed her music back in the day, and went on to specifically mention several of her better songs and what it was that I liked about them - Poor Cow, Teen Angel, Lord of the Reedy River. She was very nice at first, but as I went on she became more and more reserved and less enthusiastic. Until finally she seemed pretty annoyed.

Then I woke up and realized that all those songs were Donovan songs.

Waltzing Matilda

I've been keeping my eye out for a good live version of Tom Traubert's Blues by Tom Waits. Here it is.

Obama Taps 5th RIAA Lawyer to Justice Dept.

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/04/obama-taps-fift.html

This being a blog about music, I was hoping to keep politics out. I'll try to keep it brief.

In case you don't know, the RIAA is the Recording Industry Association of America. They have a history of buying legislation. Their business model is failing due to advances in technology. They work hard bribing congressmen to legislate special rules to preserve their failing industry.

Where are all the buggy-whip makers?

When there's a machine in your basement that creates any physical object from a template and costs
pennies to run, what will a coffee table be worth?

The vast majority of working  musicians - and I am one - wish they could make an honest living playing music and don't give a damn about the recording industry.

The Top Ten

One of my favorite ways to recommend a song to somebody is to say "It's in my Top Ten". I've been doing this for years without ever determining what exactly my Top Ten consists of. Seems like I ought to give it a shot.

Movies are easy. Here's my Top Five, in no particular order.

1. Seven Samurai
2. Mulholland Drive
3. The Searchers
4. Blade Runner
5. Chinatown

Music, though... that's a problem. I suspect that I've put several hundred songs in my Top Ten in my long career as an Opinionated Music Fan. These things usually happen in momentary bouts of enthusiasm, when I try to convey my appreciation of a song I'm momentarily taken with to someone who hasn't heard it.

There are problems. I have to exclude all Beatles songs, because otherwise my Top Ten would consist of only Beatles songs. Same for the Rolling Stones. So please take to for granted that I'm not ignoring those bands, their excellence just swamps the competition.

This moment's Musical Top Ten, in no particular order:

1. I Can See For Miles - The Who
2. Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks
3. All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
4. Don't Worry Baby - The Beach Boys
5. Don't Bring Me Down - Eric Burdon & The Animals
6. Copperhead Road - Steve Earle
7. Eight Miles High- The Byrds
8. Tom Traubert's Blues - Tom Waits
9. Dimming of the Day - Richard Thompson
10. Tin Soldier - Small Faces

Of course you realize this list will be completely different next week - or this afternoon, for that matter.