Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to Episode 338 of the fantabulous Sneaky Dragon – your personal podcast.
This week on the show, Ian and Dave talk nostalgic poison; modern times; whoop-de-doos; ineffectual Satan; cruel puppy contest; Sparks on the march; VanCAF memories; random shout outs; terrifying memories; the last straw; old-fashioned litterbugs; tumblin’ dice; game show-based math learning; tune naming; shirt shortages; door-to-door charmer; forward ghosts; systematic tangents; effective strikes; ne parle pas le français; Dave can fuck off; volcano bores; TCAF vs. VCAF; writing a sequel; and, finally, Top 5 rain songs as suggested by Sarah Walsh.
Thanks for listening.
Those Top 5 Rain Songs as chosen by Dave:
1) “Come Out of the Rain” by The U.S. Males from the 1968 single “Open Up Your Heart” b/w “Come Out of the Rain”
2) “I Can’t Stand the Rain” by Ann Peebles from the 1974 album I Can’t Stand the Rain
3) “I See the Rain” by The Marmalade from the 1967 single “I See the Rain” b/w “Laughing Man”
4) “I Call You My Rainbow” by Curt Boettcher from the 1973 album Chicken Little Was Right
5) “Dry the Rain” by The Beta Band from the 1998 album The Three EP’s
and the usual bonus track: the snappy little number
6) “A Rainy Day in Utica, N.Y.” from the album The Cat in the Hat Songbook
Bubbling Under:
“Rainy Season” by Howard Devoto from the 1983 album Jerky Versions of the Dream (almost played)
“Rainy Night in Georgia” by Brooks Benton from the 1969 single “Rainy Night in Georgia” b/w “Where Do I Go from Here”
The One-Second Beatles Quiz:
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Hey man(s), I’m not tied down by these ‘rule’ things, okay? ????
Alright so I forgot that little detail. My example would be a-ha’s version of the old Everly Brothers song Crying In The Rain, which (blasphemy!) I think I like more than the original. ???? It has such a cool rainy vibe to it, like Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game (if you’re ever driving in the rain at night, play Wicked Game nice and loud – trust me on this one, it’s the ultimate rainy driving song). I think it’s the slow, minory slide guitar.
I should probably mention that I love the rain. We don’t get as much of it as I’d like in SoCal, but when we do, I go for a nice long walk in it until my clothes are absolutely soaked. I have an hours-long playlist of rain songs for these escapades, and now I have a few more songs to add to it, so thanks! (You fell right into my trap – I liked them all but the first two were my faves.)
a-ha: Crying In The Rain
https://youtu.be/h-WPexVEujg
Chris Isaak: Wicked Game
https://youtu.be/dlJew-Dw87I
I don’t know if this is a reMarxable coincidence or Dave has pull with the folks at the TCM channel, but this afternoon they’re showing A Night at the Opera(4:45PM) followed by Room Service(6:30 PM).
Can’t help but take that slam of horse-song Wildfire personally.
And kudos to Ian for speaking out on behalf of ghosts who just want to notlive their deaths free of harassment. #MeBoo
Thanks for the heads up, Layne. Setting the DVR!
Dave, I’m curious to know how well you did on that tough Beatles One Second Quiz. (I’m not going to ask Ian because he’d be obliged to claim he’d done poorly to maintain his musically-challenged podcast persona.) I could only could name that tune four times and I’m surprised I did that well!
My choice for a rain song would be “Rhythm of the Rain” by the Cascades. (“Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain…”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC2Fu20X_KY
I like that it opens and closes with a thunderclap and falling rain and has that tinkling celesta keyboard pitter-pattering like raindrops throughout the song. Oh, and someone talking to the rain as if it could help them get their girl back might be an example of “pathetic fallacy” (the definition of which I was struggling with recently.) It’s “personification” for sure.
Just wanted to comment and say that I just bought Sparks for my eight year old sister as a gift for her finishing of 2nd grade. She absolutely loves the book and has been her go to book for a few days now. I read it before I gave t to her and you have succeeded in making the first book to make me laugh out loud, I loved it. Thanks for making such a great book, and thanks for the great podcast 🙂
Thanks so much Reid!
(sigh) I miss the days when nostalgia wasn’t poison.
Keep those deep cuts coming, Dave! That was another fine list where I didn’t recognise a single song. Who knew (The) Marmalade could be this good? I was only aware of their cover hit of Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, and featuring on Sixties nostalgia tours. There was a riff in I See The Rain that prefigured both T Rex’s 20th Century Boy, and the wonderful Teenage Fanclub’s Hang On by several years. Loved the Beta Band too. Towards the end, it was reminding me a lot of The Kinks’ Lola, which is no bad thing.
And did you know Abba are back? https://bit.ly/2srKJw5
First, ABBA never left!
Second, yes, it wasn’t too long after “I See the Rain” that The Marmalade changed their sound to whatever the British equivalent of Bubblegum would be.
Third, I will keep the deep cuts coming; although I’m always surprised when music fans who came (I assume) to Sneaky Dragon via Compleatly Beatles don’t recognize these songs. I keep thinking I’m being obvious!
Hi guys,
Sorry I’m way behind. But thanks for the shout out. Somehow that Sneaky Dragon shirt has made it onto 2 album covers now.
I did have a couple of Top 5 ideas:
1. Top 5 songs that are a response to other songs. ie Sweet Home Alabama in response to Southern Man. Or Kiss wrote a song called Firehouse because Paul Stanley heard The Move’s Fire Brigade on the radio once and wrote his song based on his memory of that song.
2. Top 5 songs where the cover version is better than the original (“better” can mean a better version, more interesting, creative take etc however you prefer)
some examples would be Devo’s Satisfaction being better than the Stones, Ramones California Sun being better than the Rivieras, Butthole Surfers version of American Woman better than the Guess Who, etc.
Thanks and keep up the good work!