Archives for November 2016

Certain Songs #695: The Jam – “The Modern World”

November 9, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: This is The Modern World (U.S.)
Year: 1977

So why do I have so much love for The Jam album that is usually derided as their worst?

It’s pretty simple, actually. First, there was Marquee Moon & Rocket To Russia. Then, there was Give ‘Em Enough Rope & Road to Ruin.

And at least how I remember it now, next was This is The Modern World. So it was my first exposure to The Jam, and with the arrow pointing to Paul Weller’s The Who button the cover serving as a signpost, the big declaration and power chords that kicked off the title track went straight to my 16-year-old heart, already reeling from the early Who songs that served as the foundation from which The Jam were developing their sound.

Certain Songs #694: The Jam – “Bricks And Mortar”

November 8, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: In The City
Year: 1977

The thrilling last track of In The City, “Bricks and Mortar” might have collapsed underneath its own heavy-handed social commentary if 1) the music hadn’t been so powerful and 2) If I could actually understand what Paul Weller was actually singing.

In 1978, it was still weird to hear people singing about British things in British accents — remember that all of the original British Invasion bands made their bones by learning American R&B songs, and so grew up singing in their approximations of American accents.

Certain Songs #693: The Jam – “Away From The Numbers”

November 7, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: In The City
Year: 1977

Weirdly, “Away From The Numbers” is what passes for a slow one on In The City, because it’s not performed at supersonic speed and it’s over four minutes long!

Add to that the fact that Weller is singing it in his wistful voice instead of his angry voice, and you might conclude that it’s some kind of happy sappy song. Until you look at the lyrics, and realize that it’s really kind of an answer song to “The Kids Are Alright.”

Certain Songs #692: The Jam – “In The City”

November 6, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: In The City
Year: 1977

Hoo-boy, where even to start with The Jam?

How about this: Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton & Rick Buckler were able to take their early love for the early Who, their mid-period love for the mid-period Beatles and their later love for late-60s soul and turn it into a nearly unparalleled discography.

A half-dozen albums and three times as many singles, and hardly a duff song to be found on any of them.

And it all happened in five years. That’s some serious kickassery right there.

Certain Songs #691: Jake Bugg – “Messed Up Kids”

November 5, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: Shangri La
Year: 2013

It’s kinda cool and weird that we’re still looking for “New Dylans” 50+ years into his career, but such was the hype that surrounded when U.K. singer-songwriter Jake Bugg released his self-titled debut in 2012.

And while I really enjoyed both “Lighting Bolt” and “Two Fingers” from that album, the Jake Bugg song that’s really caught my ear is “Messed Up Kids” from his second album, Shangri-la.

Certain Songs #690: Jacobites – “Big Store (Orig.)”

November 4, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: The Ragged School
Year: 1984

The history of Nikki Sudden, Dave Kusworth and the Jacobites is so incredibly convoluted that I’m not even going to bother to try to untangle it here. Some records are credited to “Nikki Sudden & Dave Kusworth Jacobites” some are “Nikki Sudden & The Jacobites” and some are just plain “Jacobites,” which is what I’m going with.

Also, they recorded not one, but two songs called “Big Store,” a short fast one, and a long epic one. And they both feature incredibly similar melody lines, at least for awhile. While the short one has its charms, the “Big Store” that I’m talking about stretches to a little over eight glorious minutes, and is often called “Big Store (Orig.)” because it came first.

Certain Songs #689: Jack Sheldon – “I’m Just a Bill”

November 3, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: Schoolhouse Rock!
Year: 1977

This post is just a campy 70s throwback designed to appeal to Generation X types, who luckily never had a Vietnam to thin our ranks out a little.

After Multiplication Rock and Grammar Rock, the Schoolhouse Rock powers that be decided to do America Rock in honor of the Bicentennial. I was pushing 14 when these came out, so I was aging out of the demographic, but Lynn Ahren’s “The Preamble” absolutely helped me with memorizing it, and “I’m Just A Bill” is still one of the best summations of the legislative process ever written.

Certain Songs #688: Jack Sheldon feat. Terry Morel & Mary Sue Berry – “Conjunction Junction”

November 2, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: Schoolhouse Rock!
Year: 1973

And here’s a song that never got any radio play, but is probably as beloved as any #1 hit single from the era.

So despite the fact that from the time I was 8, many of my Saturday mornings as a kid were taken up by soccer games, I still had time to watch Saturday morning cartoons, and in the case of the Bugs Bunny / Roadrunner Hour, long after I’d stopped watching anything else.

And the little edutainment music videos that were collectively known as Schoolhouse Rock! got as memorized in the same way my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons got memorized. And, like everybody else, my favorite was “Conjunction Junction.”

Certain Songs #687: The Jackson 5 – “ABC”

November 1, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: ABC
Year: 1970

You down with “ABC?”

Yeah, you know me!

The follow-up single to the eternal “I Want You Back,” “ABC” was at once weirder than its predecessor and also more conventional.