Moderators Lee Knight Posted May 17, 2013 Moderators Share Posted May 17, 2013 Post it, then tell us why __________ I played this record as a kid, over and over and over. Like I did The Foundations and Shocking Blue and Zager and Evans' In the Year 2525. What I loved about P, P & M's totally silly attempt at rock and roll was that chord change... that chord change. The verse just cruises along on one chord, not unlike the whole of Sonny Bono's And the Beat Goes On. Just a groove on the I7 chord. Funky in a very white way. Let's add some bongos! But then... that chord change. It's just a relative minor, just a vi, just an Am if in C... but because we were heavy into our groovy I7, it's that groovy 7 thing daddy, that the relative minor is such a welcome and warm and wonderful hug in a faux hippy, faux acid, faux flower child on Mary Jane sort of way. I7 to vi. I DO dig it daddy! And dig the Mama's and Papas harmonies, the nods to Donovan and The Beatles. And the absolutely stupid lyric. I dig. I do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted May 17, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted May 17, 2013 Warning, 4 on the floor ahead. Steer clear if sensitive to the thud and the hypnotizing dumbness of it all. And this one has been running through my head the past couple days again, and again. And once again, it's that chord change at the chorus... just a IV - V - iii - vi, but that iii, that Em if in C. It's all simple stuff but I'm a simple guy. Or not. I love the emotional soaring of that section of the song and how everything else just goes into to setting that up. Fire away you bastards right over this iii chord. I AM bulletproof NOW losers! I am TITANIUM!!! And to make you dance of course. (Oh, and I love Sia) I'm bulletproof, nothin' to loseFire away, fire awayShoot me down, I won't fallI am titanium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members saturn1 Posted May 17, 2013 Members Share Posted May 17, 2013 Lee Knight wrote: Post it, then tell us why __________ I played this record as a kid, over and over and over. Like I did The Foundations and Shocking Blue and Zager and Evans' In the Year 2525. What I loved about P, P & M's totally silly attempt at rock and roll was that chord change... that chord change. The verse just cruises along on one chord, not unlike the whole of Sonny Bono's And the Beat Goes On. Just a groove on the I7 chord. Funky in a very white way. Let's add some bongos! But then... that chord change. It's just a relative minor, just a vi, just an Am if in C... but because we were heavy into our groovy I7, it's that groovy 7 thing daddy, that the relative minor is such a welcome and warm and wonderful hug in a faux hippy, faux acid, faux flower child on Mary Jane sort of way. I7 to vi. I DO dig it daddy! And dig the Mama's and Papas harmonies, the nods to Donovan and The Beatles. And the absolutely stupid lyric. I dig. I do... For at least 30 of the last 40 years I had remembered 'Venus' as having been done by Shocking PINK. Maybe because Bananarama was a female group and I made an association, maybe it's just a bad case of CRS. And that bass line to "And the Beat Goes On" gets embedded in the mind as well. Nice choice to start this weeks edition, Lee.I loved "Smooth Operator" the first time I heard it. The Afro-Cuban rhythm, the saxophone, the melodic bass line, then Sade starts singing - so cool and yet so hot, so exotic with that slight accent you couldn't quite place. It was completely different than anything else that was being played on the radio at the time. "Coast to coast, LA to Chicago," you didn't even care that the coast of Lake Michigan had risen so high in stature. "No need to ask, he's a smooth operator." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rsadasiv Posted May 17, 2013 Members Share Posted May 17, 2013 I've been digging Ariel Pink this week. (real Al Stewart vibe here) (and a groovy Smiths cover) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted May 17, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted May 17, 2013 saturn1 wrote: I loved "Smooth Operator" the first time I heard it. The Afro-Cuban rhythm, the saxophone, the melodic bass line, then Sade starts singing - so cool and yet so hot, so exotic with that slight accent you couldn't quite place. It was completely different than anything else that was being played on the radio at the time. "Coast to coast, LA to Chicago," you didn't even care that the coast of Lake Michigan had risen so high in stature. "No need to ask, he's a smooth operator." Everything you said ^. And... the contrast between the two sections of verse/chorus contrasting with the chorus tag. That verse and chorus are so smoooooth... Diamond life, lover boy.We move in space with minimum waste and maximum joy. ^ Losts of sustained notes in the melody. But still hinting at the feel to come with the 8th notes at "diamond" and "minimum waste". The chorus is a wonderfully smooooth extension of the verse. But first you get that little hiccup. The band stops and!!!!! No need to ask he's a... Smooth Operator. But for me, it's the contrast of that stuff ^^^ all enough to make a great tune, with this groove and feel on the vocal line: Coast to coast, LA to Chicago, western male.Across the north and south, to Key Largo, love for sale.Just sing the "Coast to coast" bit. Just that one phrase completely lets you know there's more going on here than just smooth. Great track. GREAT track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mudcat007 Posted May 17, 2013 Members Share Posted May 17, 2013 After a long hiatus I am jumping back in on this forum. I have recently overcome a very long case of writers' block so I thought I would celebrate by joining back in the conversation here. I am very happy to see Lee is still running the show here.I've been influenced quite a bit by Chrissy Hynde and the Pretenders in both my songwriting and in my guitar playing (James Honeyman Scott and Billy Bremner have influenced me about as much as any guitarists I can think of).Here is a tune whose arrangement influenced a tune I am currently completing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rsadasiv Posted May 17, 2013 Members Share Posted May 17, 2013 Mudcat007 wrote: After a long hiatus I am jumping back in on this forum. I have recently overcome a very long case of writers' block so I thought I would celebrate by joining back in the conversation here. I am very happy to see Lee is still running the show here. I've been influenced quite a bit by Chrissy Hynde and the Pretenders in both my songwriting and in my guitar playing (James Honeyman Scott and Billy Bremner have influenced me about as much as any guitarists I can think of). Here is a tune whose arrangement influenced a tune I am currently completing. I'm thinking about a mashup thing using: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted May 17, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted May 17, 2013 Mudcat007 wrote: One of my all time favorite guitar solos. James Honeyman Scott. Unless you're saying that ^ was Billy Bremner? I always assumed it was Scott. Either way, what a way cool bag of melodic tricks that totally makes a great tune even greater. As a bass player when this came out, even I had to work out that solo. Just too cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted May 17, 2013 Members Share Posted May 17, 2013 I wanted to post Rachel Unthank and the Winterset's terrific arrangement of Richard Fari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted May 17, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted May 17, 2013 Yes! That live on Letterman thing is awesome. One listen and I get the gist of the song, and I get chops to boot! His solo totally encapsulates the frustration and relief of finding this new love. Is she a younger beauty? But on first listen I'm totally engaged with what he is doing with the pop song form.The second verse changes from the diatonic to a flatted seventh chord. He never returns to that diatonic easiness of that first verse. I just think he's great. Totally embracing the pop song format and all its traditions while bending the boundaries accordingly. He's one of the Masters. Edit: Note that there is no second guitarist! All those fills and important parts of those verses happen while there is still an 8th note rhythm guitarist holding down the fort. Too much. He takes his songwriting as seriously and as jump-right-in as his guitar playing. One of a kind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LCK Posted May 17, 2013 Members Share Posted May 17, 2013 This band killed on Letterman the other night. The singer is hot...(The opening bit with the playing card dropping out of the album sleeve refers back to Jesse Eisenberg's appearance on the show, promoting his latest film in which he plays a very clever magician.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted May 17, 2013 Members Share Posted May 17, 2013 I only became aware of this version of this song in the last week or so.I think it's a delight on many levels. Not the least of which is the exquisite restraint of those involved.There is not one extra, unnecessary element in this song, and it is, I think, all the more strikingly beautifuly because of it.Tom Jones singing Richard Thompson's "Dimming of the Day"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Monkey Uncle Posted May 18, 2013 Members Share Posted May 18, 2013 I'm generally not much of a fan of the squeaky folk punk genre, but this guy is starting to grow on me. I like the pointedness of this lyric: This Dylan spoof cracks me up. Crappy audio and annoying audience laughter, but I couldn't find the CD version. On that recording he even copies Dylan's slightly out of tune guitar. Close your eyes if you're prone to motion sickness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted May 23, 2013 Members Share Posted May 23, 2013 This one shows the danger of not getting enough escape velocity leave the orbit of one's influences...This Joni Mitchell satellite from nearly forgotten, early 70s UK folkie, Bridget St John, ends up crashing and burning in most spectacular fashion... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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