Hello, fellow music diggers, and welcome back to Sneaky Dragon Listening Party! The podcast made with love – and also bits of string.
We have enough chairs and a big sofa for everyone today. Mary is in charge of the turntable, and Dave has some cold Cokes and a bowl of chips to share so sit down and join us as we take a listen to side two of Liam Penton’s Dave-curated mixtape:
But before we get to side two, let’s take care of some old business: last episode we missed a couple of tracks from side one of Liam’s mix so Dave and Mary take a look at proto-bubblegum hit “Western Union” by The Five Americans and the fabulous psych-pop single “Say You Don’t Mind” by Denny Laine (pre-Wings, but post-Moody Blues).
Then it’s on to new business with side two of Liam’s mixtape:
- Elvis Costello – “Crawling to the USA” – Taking Liberties, 1980
- GOAT – “Let It Bleed” – World Music, 2012
- White Denim – “At the Farm” – D, 2011
- Real Estate – “Talking Backwards” – Atlas, 2014
- The David – “Light of Your Mind” – from the single “Light of Your Mind”/”Please Mr. Policeman”, 1969
- The Tages – “I Read You Like an Open Book” – from the single “I Read You Like an Open Book”/”Halcyon Days”, 1968
- Gal Costa – “Deus É o Amor” – Gal Costa, 1969
- The Wedding Present – “Brassneck” – Bizarro, 1989
- Stereolab – “Vonal Declosion” – Margarine Eclipse, 2004
- Tavares – “It Only Takes a Minute” – In the City, 1975
- The Bubble Puppy – “Hot Smoke and Sasafrass” – A Gathering of Promises, 1969
- Samantha Jones – “Today Without You” – A Girl Named Sam, 1970
- Avi Buffalo – “Remember Last Time” – Avi Buffalo, 2010
And one final note: Just as on side one where we replaced the instrumental track “Maiden’s Milk” by the Meat Puppets with “Up on the Sun” – another Meat Puppets song; we replaced “Tossing and Turning” – a pretty great song by The Ivy League – with “Today WIthout You” – an even better (we think) song. We wanted something to make the transition between “Hot Smoke and Sasafrass” and “Remember Last Time” work better.
And, yeah, the show is long, but it’s MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC!!!
Thanks for listening!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Well done, once again. Really enjoyed that last song in particular – went back and listened to it a second time.
Mary’s comment, when she mocked you for referring to the #3 song by White Denim as modern when it dates back to 2011 made me laugh. To me today, 2011 was like yesterday, but then I remembered elementary school-age me and our music teacher, who made us sing all these old Beach Boys and Beatles songs. The time span was about the same.
Of course, I was incensed, refused to do sing them, and ended up washing dishes in the teachers’ lounge every music class instead. Fast forward a couple of years and my brother’s class gets to record an album with this teacher and his ‘old fashioned’ music. Twenty five years later, the album is ‘discovered’ and ends up on the Rolling Stone top ten list for the year and with a VH-1 documentary made about it.
LOL More the fool me.
Stop!?
No, don’t stop. Another great episode. I look forward to many more to come.
Pretty much agree with you on Costello after “Blood and Chocolate.”
Most of what I’ve heard is fair with the odd gem here and there though in fairness I stopped paying attention truth be told so there’s much I haven’t heard.
But I rate “When I Was Cruel” and his brand new one is much better than I expected it to be.
Any thoughts on those two, or have you heard them yet?
Thank you, Dave and Mary, for another great episode! Excellent title card too, Dave.
Hello! This is a great project. I enjoy hearing all the thought that went into these selections, as well as the music itself (most of which I haven’t heard before). Thanks for sharing, eh!
During the show Mary and I mentioned an amazing telegram she once found online. Well, here it is:
Hello!
Wonderful Listening Party podcasts. So much fun. Dave and Mary’s interplay is delightful and touching. Thank You!!
You may have gotten this from 10 others already, but Dave, the “Al” you were trying to remember (played organ on “Like a Rolling Stone” with Bob Dylan) was the inimitable Al Kooper. He also formed the Blues Project, and got Blood Sweat and Tears started. He also was music director for my favorite 1980’s TV show- “Crime Story.” He wrote a great memoir–“Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards.” He played with the Royal Teens on the 1950s hit “Short Shorts,” and wrote “This Diamond Ring” for Gary Lewis and the Playboys.
I hope you do many more listening parties. My commute to work in Chicago is 1:15 hour, and you guys make the miles go by very pleasantly.
Thanks again, and keep up the great podcasting!!
Danny
Al Kooper! That’s the fellow. And don’t forget his Super Session album with Stephen Stills and Mike Bloomfield! That guy had his fingers in a lot of pies.
I have his very good book too and it’s a lot of fun. I really admire how he just threw himself into musical projects and the devil could take the hindmost – an enviable quality.
We have quite a few more Listening Parties planned!