Certain Songs

Certain Songs #1922: Ride – “Leave Them All Behind”

September 26, 2020 by Jim Connelly Leave a Comment

Album: Going Blank Again
Year: 1992

. . .

It was one of those Saturday mornings in 1992 where I would wander down the street to Ragin Records, and peruse the CD stacks while talking to Paul or Jay, depending on who was working there that day.

And on that particular Saturday morning, they’d gotten in the second Ride album, Going Blank Again. And because I’d very much enjoyed the debut album, Nowhere, I figured I’d spend the $6.99 or whatever it was on the follow-up. So I walked back down the street, put Going Blank Again into my CD changer.

And. I. Was. Blown. Away.

Certain Songs #1921: Ride – “Vapour Trail”

September 25, 2020 by Jim Connelly Leave a Comment

Album: Nowhere
Year: 1990

. . .

Outside of My Bloody Valentine, of course, Ride was probably the most famous of all of the so-called “shoegaze” bands. So-called because the concept was that they’d spend their shows staring at their feet rather than at the audience. Which, of course, wasn’t the only criteria, because by that standard, New Order would have qualified.

In any event, most of these bands were distinguished via noisy-yet-shimmering guitar tones, big beats and vocals that were often buried by the aformentioned guitars and beats. Of course, that’s incredibly reductive, as we’ll see when we get to my favorite of those bands, Swervedriver, in a couple of years.

Certain Songs #1920: Rick Springfield – “Jessie’s Girl”

September 24, 2020 by Jim Connelly Leave a Comment

Album: Working Class Dog
Year: 1981

. . .

One of the weird ironies of power-pop was that a genre dedicated to short, snappy songs really never generated a lot of massive hits. And then, when the occasional power-pop song did sneak through — from “My Sharona” to “I’ll Be There For You” — there was usually always a backlash from the aficionados of the form.

(Oh, and speaking of “I’ll Be There For You,” it is now probably the most-heard power pop song of all time, isn’t it?)

Certain Songs #1919: Rick Derringer – “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo”

September 23, 2020 by Jim Connelly Leave a Comment

Album: All-American Boy
Year: 1973

. . .

Before it became an unlikely hit single, “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo” had been kicking around for a couple of years, with Rick Derringer having recorded the song with both of the Winter brothers, Johnny and Edgar.

The version with Johnny Winter was a studio version that came out in 1970 on Johnny Winter And, and then in 1972, Johnny joined Rick and Edgar to sing it on Edgar’s live album, Roadwork.

Certain Songs #1918: Richmond Fontaine – “Lonnie”

September 22, 2020 by Jim Connelly Leave a Comment

Album: We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like a River
Year: 2009

. . .

And now the case of Willy Vlautin, who turned from cult Americana bandleader to cult novelist. I’ll freely admit that I’ve haven’t read any of his books — though if someone wanted to tell me where to start, I would — and haven’t heard all of the albums he cut as the leader of the Oregon-based Richmond Fontaine, who started releasing albums in 1996, and as of 2018, were still doing it.

Richmond Fontaine came on my radar with 2004’s Post to Wire, and my favorite of their albums was 2009’s We Used to Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River, a brilliant and evocative title for an album with quite a few brilliant and evocative songs, like “You Can Move Back Here,” “The Boyfriends” and my favorite of all “Lonnie,” which encapsulates all of Richmond Fontaine’s strengths in a single song.

Certain Songs #1917: Richard Hell & The Voidoids – “Blank Generation”

September 21, 2020 by Jim Connelly Leave a Comment

Album: Blank Generation
Year: 1977

A supergroup in retrospect, derailed by Hell’s heroin addiction and the fact that he was basically an writer and a fashion icon first and a rock ‘n’ roller second, Richard Hell & The Voidoids made a noise on their debut album that pretty much has never been duplicated.

And nowhere was that noise better displayed than the title track, which floated on a classic r&b rhythm and yet also sounded like nothing ever before recorded, starting with opening conversation between Ivan Julian’s rhythm guitar, Hell’s bass and Robert Quine’s lead guitar, after which Hell started yawping.

Certain Songs #1916: Richard & Linda Thompson – “Shoot Out The Lights”

September 17, 2020 by Jim Connelly Leave a Comment

Album: Shoot Out The Lights
Year: 1982

I never know quite what to do in the case of a beloved cult artist of whose cult I’m not really a member. Take the case of Richard Thompson, who has been thrilling people with his guitar pyrotechnics for over 50 years, but I’ve never really connected with. And lord knows I’ve tried off-and-on over the years.

In any event, the only album that ever fully stuck with me was 1982’s bitter break-up album, Shoot Out The Lights, the final album Richard Thompson ever recorded with his ex-wife Linda. They ended up making a half-dozen in the decade after Thompson left Fairport Convention, and to me, Shoot Out The Lights is the best.

Certain Songs #1915: Ric Ocasek – “Jimmy Jimmy”

September 16, 2020 by Jim Connelly Leave a Comment

Album: Beatitude
Year: 1982

. . .

Ric Ocasek was always a bit of a mystery, but one of the things that we forget was that he was nearing his mid-30s when The Cars came out of nowhere and changed everything. Or at least changed everything for me, as I’m only half-joking when I say that side two of The Cars remains the ultimate achievement of Western Civilization.

And because he maintained that air of mystery over the next few decades — those sunglasses did a lot of heavy lifting — it seemed like he died way too young, when in reality he older than Neil Young. It’s a weird world.

Certain Songs #1914: Rhett Miller – “I Used to Write in Notebooks”

September 15, 2020 by Jim Connelly Leave a Comment

Album: The Messenger
Year: 2018

. . .

And so it went, Rhett Miller continue to intersperse solo albums — both 2012’s The Dreamer and 2015’s The Traveler are recommended, though if you’re reading this, you probably know that — in between Old 97’s albums, his songwriting craft absolutely undeterred by the age that refused to show on his face.

His most recent one, 2018’s The Messenger, had an absolutely stunning song dealing with that aging. Over a low-key bass-and-piano lope that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Wilco album, he details all of the ways that technology has changed his life. And my life. And maybe even yours.

Certain Songs #1913: Rhett Miller – “Happy Birthday Don’t Die”

September 14, 2020 by Jim Connelly Leave a Comment

Album: Rhett Miller
Year: 2009

For whatever reason, after calling his first two solo albums The Instigator and The Believer, Rhett Miller decided to self-title his third one, released in 2009. This is and of itself wouldn’t be anything, except he almost immediately started titling his next solo albums things like The Interpreter and The Messenger, making Rhett Miller really stick out in his solo discography.

So it’s possible that he conceived of Rhett Miller as being different from all of his other solo albums or maybe he decided he liked the previous naming convention, or something else entirely.