The Zombies - "The Best Of..."

I found this compilation by The Zombies at Record and Tape Exchange today, and I picked it up because it's in perfect condition. After researching on Discogs, it appears to be a 1982 Canadian-only compilation on London Records. It has a very nice track-listing.

The American Dream - self-titled

Excellent, rather obscure 1970 self-titled LP by The American Dream. Philadelphia area band, sorta psychedelic tinged guitar-rock but very melodic, with nice harmonies. Produced by Todd Rundgren. A real hidden gem. The only album they ever put out. 

Bill Withers - "Still Bill"

Found a good condition used LP copy of Bill Withers' 1972 album "Still Bill." I've been looking for this one for a while, so I'm pretty pleased. The sound quality really impresses me - this is one well-produced album. It sounds fresh and alive. A great pressing. And Withers' songs and the performances are outstanding. "Who is He (and what is he to you)?" has that slow, funky bass groove... it's just killer. And of course "Use Me" and "Lean on Me" are classic singles that have been covered many times.

"Still Bill" is a hugely influential album that deserves every accolade.

I used to have demons in my room at night

Desire, despair, desire... sooo many monsters!

Oh but now...

(I don't find myself bouncing home whistling buttonhole tunes to make me cry)

Some people never say the words

“I love you”

It’s not their style

To be so bold

Some people never say those words

“I love you”

But like a child they’re longing to be told

David Bowie: "Valentine's Day"

Bowie's first album in a decade, "The Next Day," is a remarkably dark collection.  It's splayed with blood at times, on songs like the title track, the haunting"How Does the Grass Grow", and "Valentine's Day".

"Valentine's Day" is particularly chilling given the recent events in Newtown, Connecticut.  Although there are obvious differences in the circumstances of his rampage, Adam Lanza could have been the boy the narrator is hearing fantasize about death and destruction in "Valentine's Day"...  "It's in his tiny face.. it's in his scrawny hand... it's in his icy heart...."

 

 

It's a brilliant song.  It begins like a moderate pop-rock song with an opening couplet that might fit into a typical love song.  Then it turns abruptly dark, and we realize we're not talking about puppy love here.   Valentine is a character fantasizing about shooting up his classmates.  It's a harrowing song, especially at the ambiguous ending ("It's happening today!! Valentine, Valentine!!")  We as the listener cannot know if Valentine is merely fantasizing to someone, or if this portends the start of violence, or perhaps the narrator - to whom Valentine is presumably confiding his plans - will step in and stop the situation.  I can picture a video where Valentine is walking towards school as if on a normal day, seeing the classmates around him, the camera cuts to Valentine's face, and then fade to black.  We don't know what happens.  Listen to the harrowing vocals in those last few lines, the drama and almost panic that Bowie conjures in those lines. 

 

Also notable in the song is the almost retro, old-school rock feel.  The sing-song "sha-la-la-la" backing vocals - the incongruity of innocence and beauty and the ice-cold alienation of a sociopath.   And the further realization that you never know who Valentine might be.  For every act of violence that comes to fruition, how many are stewing in someone's mind?

 

A stunning moment on an album that's loaded with them. 

  

 

Valentine told me who's to go

Feelings he's treasured most of all
The teachers and the football star
It's in his tiny face
It's in his scrawny hand
Valentine told me so
He's got something to say
It's Valentine's Day

The rhythm of the crowd
Teddy and Judy down
Valentine sees it all
He's got something to say
It's Valentine's Day

Valentine told me how he'd feel
If all the world were under his heels
Or stumbling through the mall
It's in his tiny face
It's in his scrawny hand
Valentine knows it all
He's got something to say
It's Valentine's Day

Valentine, Valentine
Valentine, Valentine

It's in his scrawny hand
It's in his icy heart
It's happening today
Valentine, Valentine

It's in his scrawny hand
It's in his icy heart
It's happening today
Valentine, Valentine

 

Robert Plant: "Big Log"

With Robbie Blunt's exquisite guitar, Plant's extraordinarily beautiful and effective vocal, and gorgeous heartfelt lyric, "Big Log" is one of the finest singles of the early 80s. Even though it was a sizable hit, it's been overlooked in some ways. Plant's solo work is overshadowed by the titanic Led Zeppelin legacy. But there is something about this song... the stripped down arrangement, the melancholy, the dreaminess.. It always appealed to me greatly when I was young (I was 11 when it came out, and I wore out the 45), and it still sounds great to this day. From the "Principle of Moments" album, which has its moments - most notably 2nd single "In the Mood" and the opening track, and #1 on the Rock Radio airplay Charts "Other Arms"... but the rest of the material is so-so. But "Big Log" is a timeless classic. The vocal performance alone requires that it be considered alongside the very best recordings Robert Plant has been involved with, and that includes Zeppelin.



My love is in league with the freeway
Its passion will ride, as the cities fly by
And the tail-lights dissolve, in the coming of night
And the questions in thousands take flight

My love is a-miles in the waiting
The eyes that just stare, and the glance at the clock
And the secret that burns, and the pain that grows dark
And it's you once again

Leading me on - leading me down the road
Driving beyond - driving me down the road

My love is exceedingly vivid
Red-eyed and fevered with the hum of the miles
Distance and longing, my thoughts do provide
Should I rest for a while at the side

Your love is cradled in knowing
Eyes in the mirror, still expecting they'll come
Sensing too well when the journey is done
There is no turning back - no
There is no turning back - on the run

My love is in league with the freeway
Oh the freeway, and the coming of night-time

My love is in league with the freeway