I broke one of my own rules on this disc--Mike Berry is on two tracks, recorded fifty years apart, and called "Don't You Think It's Time" and "It's Just a Matter of Time". I couldn't help myself. The idea of two songs about time that were laid down half a century apart by the same dude? Had to be done.
Another thing that had to be done was setting up something of a delayed joke in the disc--the Jonathan Richman song at the end mentions "Louie Louie", "Little Latin Lupe Lu" and "Hang On Sloopy", all of which are on this disc. That's a shout-out to Tom Schoenberg, who introduced me to the music of Jonathan Richman in the first place. My pop culture knowledge is broader because I have him as a friend.
"Hang Fire" is the Rolling Stones trying to do some kind of disco doo-wop Ramones thing, and I have no idea how Stones fans feel about the track. I really like it, myself.
Timothology: Strange Aeons Disc 07 / 48
Theme: None
Label phrase: "Because of reasons."
01) Ebony Eyes / Bob Welch
02) Sleepwalker / The Kinks
03) Take the Skinheads Bowling / Camper Van Beethoven
04) Strawberry Letter 23 / The Brothers Johnson
05) Hang Fire / The Rolling Stones
06) Night of the Living Wedge / The Wedge
07) Ain't Got No Home / Clarence "Frogman" Henry
08) Don't You Think It's Time / Mike Berry & the Outlaws
09) The Bird's The Word / The Rivingtons
10) Roll Muddy River / The Pioneers
11) Louie Louie / The Kingsmen
12) Blast Off / Jimmie Haskell and His Orchestra
13) The Mighty Quinn / Manfred Mann
14) Rockaway Beach / The Ramones
15) King of the Surf / Los Straitjackets
16) Little Latin Lupe Lu / The Righteous Brothers
17) Telstar / Brujos
18) Teenage Rampage / The Sweet
19) Strychnine / The Sonics
20) March of the Spacemen / The Thunderbolts
21) Hang On Sloopy / The McCoys
22) Chick Habit / April March
23) Back From the Moon / Symarip
24) Buzz-Buzz-Buzz / The Hollywood Flames
25) Parties in the U.S.A. / Johnathan Richman
26) It's Just a Matter of Time / Mike Berry & the Western All-Stars
27) Magic / The Cars
28) Dream Away / George Harrison
So while this disc may not have a technically intended theme, I think of it as "Telstar's Beach Party*." There's a lot of surfing- and beach-adjacent songs--not all necessarily as on the nose as Rockaway Beach, but I just get a pretty distinct summer party vibe from the disc. That may be partially because it's summer when I'm listening to it but the music also feels very much that way to me.
ReplyDeleteI also loved the shoutout. It took me about half way through Parties for me to remember that Little Latin Lupe Lu and Hang On Sloopy were in there, and I love easter eggs like that**. Obviously, Parties also heavily influences my impression of a party theme, but Louie Louie etc. are very party-ish songs anyway. So there ya go. Also, I can't hear Louie Louie without thinking "Grab a beer. Don't cost nothin'."
Specific things I was into: I loved this Telstar. Obviously Louie Louie is a classic. In terms of completely unfamiliar music and I loved the reggae/dub-ish one that comes toward the end whose name I don't remember, and Teenage Rampage was right up my alley.
Overall, this disc sounds like the time of year I'm listening to it, and I really love the summery feel I get from the tracks, intentional or not. Makes me wish I was listening to it staring at water.
* Not that I'm aware of you being interested in beach parties, but still.
** I have a DJ friend (did I ever introduce you to Walter/Skeeter Dean?) who used to do something by Dillinger, then Leroy Sparks, then play Delroy Wilson's "Cool Operator", then "White Man on Hammersmith Palais" for reggae shows, which is along the same lines.
*** I meant Leroy Smart. It always sounds like "Sparks" to me and I forgot that it's a misheard lyric for me.
ReplyDeleteI think I met Walter at a party you held before I went back to school, and IIRC you were spinning one of the older Timothology discs there (maybe 2002?). The obligatory Telstar cover came on and he said "Oh! Telstar!", and you immediately said "You and Tim need to get a room". I mean, those things all really happened, but I think they happened with Walter.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was Leroy Sparks too. Maybe Joe Strummer needed to work on his elocution.
I don't think I've ever been to an actual beach party, but I'm sure they are a lot of fun. I'll be the dweeb drinking lemonade instead of booze over by the record player.
And yes, I tried to give this disc a particular groove even if there wasn't a definite theme (I could have stuck some of the songs from beach party movies on it, or something like that; I also, as you surely know, have a TON of surf rock that could have been pressed into service). Instead I tried to be a little oblique about it.
Speaking of shout-outs, Jonathan Richman did a cover of the doo-wop track that plays right before "Parties in the USA".
I fucked up on this disc, in that there are two Joe Meek tracks on it ("March of the Spacemen" and "Don't You Think It's Time"). I never intentionally double up like that. Ironically, I also doubled up on Mike Berry tracks on this one. So while it was an accidental rule break, I think it worked out all right in the end.
The next disc is the one where the word "fuck" is in the lyrics of every song and I hope you like it as much as I think you're going to like it.