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The Brains

Certain Songs #126: The Brains – “Heart in the Street”

March 8, 2015 by Jim Connelly

image

Album: Electronic Eden.
Year: 1981.

If there was any damn justice in the world, “Heart in the Street” would be widely remembered as a beloved early 80s New Wave classic  instead of a song that is so obscure you can’t even find the fucking lyrics – much less the song itself – on the internet.

But of course, there isn’t, which is a shame, because this has been among my all-time all-times since it came out.

Starting of with a slowly picked guitar, “Heart in the Street” starts of with Tom Gray lost in a dream:

I lay dreaming, in electronic Eden
Plugged in the groove, not a thought in my head

but as the verse goes on, he gets more and more desparing and as the song builds and builds, things go south:

Well now I stand, on my own two feet
My face hits the dirt, that’s my heart in the street

And then, the kicker: as the song builds to an explosion of crashing guitars and slowly thundering drums, Gray uncorks a chorus for the ages: 

Jesus Christ! 
Can’t we do anything right?
What’s the matter with you? 
What’s the matter with me? 
Heart in the street. 

By the end of the song, he’s become so pained that his frustration utterly leaps from the speakers. 

 In 1981, a year after graduating from high school, a year before KFSR went on the air, my parents well on their way to getting divorced, the first band I was in throwing me out, the frustration in these words and performance went directly to my soul, as did the utterly gorgeous melody line.

Of course, “Heart in the Street” exists nowhere on as a stream on the internet, so I uploaded it to Soundcloud.

“Heart in the Street” on Soundcloud

My Certain Songs Spotify Playlist:

Every “Certain Song” Ever

Filed Under: Certain Songs, Hot Topics, Music Tagged With: Electronic Eden, Heart in the Street, The Brains

Certain Songs #125: The Brains – “Money Changes Everything”

March 7, 2015 by Jim Connelly

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Album:  The Brains.

Year: 1980.

There is absolutely no reason for the first album by The Brains to be out of print. It’s a great record, and as one of Steve Lillywhite’s earliest production, has a certain cultural cachet. In addition, because of Lillywhite’s sound and the fact that best Brain Tom Gray played the keyboards, it’s got a really unique sound with Gray’s organ and synths battling future Georgia Satellite Rick Price’s big, crunchy guitars.

And it has my favorite version of “Money Changes Everything.” This is a personal preference, and probably the least popular opinion. The vast majority of people have only ever heard Cyndi Lauper’s excellent version – which I assume provided Tom Gray enough songwriting royalties to last for the rest of his life – and of course the coolest of the cool who have heard The Brains probably prefer the original 7", which is unsullied by Lillywhite’s machinations. 

Also: there is LITERALLY NO PLACE ON THE INTERNET YOU CAN FIND A DECENT-SOUNDING DIGITAL VERSION OF THIS RECORD. My original vinyl is long long gone, and the mp3s I found over a decade ago via blogspot sound like shit, and this video is OK, but it really only hits at how huge-sounding this record felt to me back in 1980.

Oh, and definitely check out Greil Marcus’ chapter on it in his History of Rock and Roll in 10 Songs book – I’m pretty sure I originally heard of this song in one of his Real Life Rock columns in New West magazine, and that led me to check out the album.  If you ever find a decent-sounding copy, let me know.

Fan-made video for “Money Changes Everything”

My Certain Songs Spotify Playlist:

Every “Certain Song” Ever

Filed Under: Certain Songs, Hot Topics, Music Tagged With: Money Changes Everything, The Brains

23 Musical Moments to Die For, Part 2

October 3, 2008 by Jim Connelly

NOTE: Because of a godsdammed bug between Flash and Firefox for Windows, I’ve had to break this up into two parts in order for the players to work for those with that particular configuration. Stupid internets.

If you’re running Firefox and get stuck on “buffering,” restarting your browser should work.

[Read more…] about 23 Musical Moments to Die For, Part 2

Filed Under: Music, That's What I Like Tagged With: Beach Boys, Camper Van Beethoven, Cheap Trick, Jeff Tweedy, Los Campesinos, Neil Young, Robyn Hitchcock, The Brains, The Byrds, Tommy Stinson

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Previously on Medialoper

  • Certain Songs #2632: Talking Heads – “Puzzlin’ Evidence”
  • Certain Songs #2631: Talking Heads – “Road to Nowhere”
  • Certain Songs #2630: Talking Heads – “And She Was”
  • Certain Songs #2629: Talking Heads – “What A Day That Was (Los Angeles 12-1983)”
  • Certain Songs #2628: Talking Heads – “Slippery People (Los Angeles 12-1983)”

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