Archives for July 2022

Certain Songs #2413: Spinal Tap – “Big Bottom”

July 31, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Heavy Metal Memories
Year: 1982

. . .

1970 was truly a historic year for British Heavy Metal. Not only was it the year Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep released their first albums, it was also the year that a pair of British bands stopped fucking around and started kicking out the jams. The first of those bands was Deep Purple, who had made their name with with heavyish covers of Joe South & Neil Diamond songs, as well as long arty suites, and had even released a collab with the London Symphony Orchestra before solidifying with a new bassist and Jesus from Jesus Christ Superstar to release the immortal Deep Purple In Rock. The other was Spinal Tap, who, to put it frankly, were a bit of a mess.

Certain Songs #2412: The Special A.K.A. – “Free Nelson Mandela”

July 30, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: In The Studio
Year: 1984

. . .

Because musicians lead complicated lives, when I write these things, there is sometimes confusion as to what to call the song I’m writing about as well as confusion as to which artist to credit for the song.

In today’s case, it’s both!!!! Is the song called “Free Nelson Mandela” or is it just called “Nelson Mandela”? Is the group “The Special A.K.A.” or is it just “The Specials”? Both the song and the group can easily be found under either name. So I’m going to make the arbitrary decision to go with how I first got to know this song — the single that came out in 1984 — while trying to untangle some of the threads that created all of the confusion in the first place.

Certain Songs #2411: The Specials – “Ghost Town (Extended Version)”

July 29, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Single, 1981

. . .

The final single from the the classic incarnation of The Specials was also the greatest song that any of these musicians will ever be involved in, as “Ghost Town” — especially in its extended version — is an absolutely titanic classic that still sounds fucking amazing four decades later.

Written by keyboardist Jerry Dammers, “Ghost Town” evokes just how fucked-up things were in the U.K. during the early days Thatcherism, as unemployment, despair and violence so permeated the landscape, Dammers didn’t even have to go on and on about it in the same way that, say, Joe Strummer or Paul Weller did.

Certain Songs #2410: The Specials – “A Message To You Rudy”

July 28, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: The Specials
Year: 1979

. . .

In 1979, Jerry Dammers did an incredibly smart thing. Chrysalis Records wanted to sign his band The Specials — who were setting a small world on fire — but instead of doing that, he convinced them to fund a record label where he could release records by not just The Specials, but other like-minded bands.

And thus, 2 Tone records was formed, almost instantly becoming one of the most iconic record labels in pop history and for the next few years, released some fantastic records by not just the Specials (in all of their various configurations) but The (English) Beat, Madness, Bad Manners, The Selecter and even Elvis Costello & The Attractions.

Certain Songs #2409: Sparklejet – “Fancy”

July 27, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: KOLA
Year: 2022

…

Originally, the thought for the album that eventually became KOLA was that Sparklejet would head back to Chicago and record again with Steve Albini, but when Victor Sotelo was discussing that with Scott Oliver of the Miss Alans, he was taken by Scott’s thought that, since their last two albums were basically live in the studio, maybe this time, they could record it locally and make it a bit more produced.

And Victor was like, “sure, dude, if you’ll produce it” and Scott was all “sure, I can do that” and the result was an album that basically traded some — but not all! — of the intensity that had permeated the previous three Sparklejet albums for a bunch of catchy tunes.

Certain Songs #2408: Sparklejet – “At Prince & Elizabeth”

July 26, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: KOLA
Year: 2022

. . .

In December 2019, I started a Messenger thread with Victor Sotelo of Sparklejet and Scott Oliver of The Miss Alans. All three of our bands had been tracking new albums, and while none of our albums were quite ready to release, it struck me that maybe there was an opportunity here: it surely must be some kind of thing that three bands with roots going back to the halcyon days of the Fresno indie scene were all ready to release their first albums in 7 years (Sparklejet), 24 years (The Miss Alans) and ever (Sedan Delivery).

Certain Songs #2407: Sparklejet – “Her Cuts Bleed”

July 25, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Phononovella
Year: 2013

. . .

It’s not easy to make records as a truly independent and: you have to scrape up money for studio time and mastering time, not to mention quite possibly pay people to to record and master your album. And that’s on top of your day jobs, partners, family, friends, and a host of other distractions and complexities that life throws at you.

From that angle, it’s amazing that anybody records and releases any records at all, especially as you get older and that youthful drive to conquer and change the world with your music settles into a more mature realization that the world really doesn’t give a shit about your art. Which is fine, because the reason that you still do your music (or, say, your writing) and put it out is because you still give a shit about it, so fuck the world.

Certain Songs #2506: Sparklejet – “Lebanon, IN”

July 23, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Bar Guest
Year: 2001

. . .

The first thing you should probably know about the very early Who-like “Lebanon, IN” was that Victor Sotelo has never been to Lebanon, Indiana.

What happened was that Victor was working at B.Dalton’s — a mom-and-pop killing bookstore chain that was itself killed by Barnes & Noble which was then killed by Amazon — when the melody for the song popped into the head. And because it was a long melody, he needed to write some words it stat, and since many of the books that that B.Dalton’s received were from Lebanon, Indiana, he wrote a temporary opening line — “This song’s for “Lebanon, Indiana” — in order to remember the song so he could eventually write a real lyric.

Certain Songs #2505: Sparklejet – “4×60 A/C”

July 22, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Bar Guest
Year: 2001

. . .

WARNING: This post contains a long personal narrative — I mean longer than most — prior to discussion of the actual song. If you feel that the personal narrative, or the fact that I am close friends with the songwriter responsible for the song, means that I have lost all objectivity, then you are entirely correct.

I first met Victor Sotelo because we needed a bass player. The “we” in question was The Bridesmaids, the band that Don Ramirez, Joe Reinartz and I formed in the wake of what was — for 25 years — the final implosion of Sedan Delivery. After everything with Sedan Delivery went south — as inevitable as it was frustrating — Don & I sat on my porch, got drunk, and wrote a song about our anger and sadness while vowing to carry on making music.

Certain Songs #2404: The Soundtrack of Our Lives – “Throw It To The Universe”

July 21, 2022 by Jim Connelly

Album: Throw It To The Universe
Year: 2012

. . .

After the deep well of psychedelic goodness that was Communion, there was little chance that the follow up, 2012’s Throw It To The Universe, was going to be as strong.

And I’m guessing that they knew it, as well, as Throw It To The Universe ended up being their final album, 16 years after their first got together. Like R.E.M. when they recorded Collapse into Now, TSOOL knew they were recording their final album, unlike R.E.M., that fact was part of the promotion of the album.