For St. Patrick's Day, this is a bit of a departure from the usual format. For your upcoming holiday celebration, here's my Irish Rock playlist. As always, your suggestions are more than welcome.
Damien Dempsey “Wild One”
I first saw/heard Damien Dempsey at a tribute to Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott in New York (15 years ago?). As much as I've like his other work, he's at his very best with this heart-felt and very different version of this Lizzy classic, which I've always believed Lynott wrote about himself.
Thin Lizzy “Fighting”
Black Flag's Henry Rollins has a spoken word CD where he talks at length about Thin Lizzy's dual personalities. There's the hard edge of this tune or “Jailbreak,” songs that are the perfect accompaniment to a hard gym workout. Then, there's the sad beauty of mournful love songs like “Wild One.” There's no other band able to serve both roles so well in an honest way. So many bands go so wrong with the ballads. “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” being but one example.
The Pogues “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah”
A blatent attempt at getting The Pogues into the top of the charts. Didn't work very well, but I still love hearing Shane MacGowan in the attempt.
The Coors “Breathless”
Poor Jim Corr. Part of a million-selling band, but on tour with his sisters. Probably won't be any Rolls-Royces in the swimming pool or TVs out the window with them along.
Glyder “Hazy Shade Of Winter”
There's always the Next Big Thing of Ireland, and Glyder was it for a few weeks last year. They're okay if you're looking for a young rock band who seem to be completely unaware that the 80s, the 90s and the past eight years ever happened. To me, this is their best song (of the three or four I've heard). The Bangles' version is only slightly better.
Wolfstone “Zeto”
If booming power chords mixed with a rocking bag pipe is your thing, you'll love Wolfstone as much as I do.
Thin Lizzy “Roisin Dubh (The Black Rose)”
Lizzy's “Whiskey in the Jar” is almost too obvious a selection for a St. Patrick's rock mix, but “Roisin Dubh” actually outdoes “Whiskey” in fusing big-time rock guitars with traditional elements of Irish folk. As it shifts from a brisk trot to a rapid gallop at the end of its six-minute length, I'm always sprinting on the elliptical machine... no matter how tired I might be.
Billy Bragg “Don't Walk Away Renee”
I saw him open for The Pogues once, so he's Irish enough even if he's not strictly from there. This song will do nothing for your workout, but the line “You have to take the chunky with the smooth, I suppose” has become a key tenet of my philosophy of life. It's also something I repeat to my 10 year old about once a week.
Rory Gallagher “Tatoo'd Lady”
Absolutely brilliant. He left us too soon.
Sinead O'Connor “Nothing Compares To U”
Truth be told, Frank Sinatra was a bully whose condemnation of Sinead's controversial SNL performance was just one added example of him spouting off on subjects he knew nothing about. This song reminds me of a summer day I spent in Norway. Literally every store I walked into that day was playing this song. It all comes flooding back every time I hear it again.
The Undertones “Teenage Kicks”
It's got the sound and feeling of an ancient proto-punk song like “Pushing Too Hard” by The Seeds only more frantic and fresh.
U2 “Bad”
It's about Phil Lynott, you know!
Shane McGowan “Church of The Holy Spook”
I have no idea what this is about. It's Shane at his best, though.
The Cranberries “Salvation”
If you think Delores O'Riordan were somehow lightweight or too poppy for a real rock fan, this song (and a half-dozen others I could cite) will prove you absolutely wrong. Such a wonderful accent, too.
The Saw Doctors “I Useta Love Her”
If I were to make a list of the bands I'd most like to see live, The Saw Doctors would be Top 5 easily. This song has a great line about a guy ogling a girl as she sashays up the church aisle for Communion.
Stiff Little Fingers “Alternative Ulster”
I always loved the name, but never really heard the band until this song came to me via a compilation I picked up at the library. A perfect, three-minute pogo song, and it's got wicked energy that seems to come in equal parts joy and piss-offedness. Plus, it's a more genuine anger than the pose I often sensed behind The Sex Pistols.
The Pogues Featuring Kristy McColl “Fairytale of New York”
Too good a song to be reserved only for Christmas. Make it a St. Patty's tradition, too.
Shane McGowan & The Popes “Victoria”
Wolfstone “Gillies”
Six-and-a-half-minutes long, this is Wolfestone's “Orion,” it's “Fire On High.” A wonderful rock song with a bag pipe carrying the melody.
Tim Bragg “Ode To Phil Lynott”
A beautifully rendered tribute to Phil Lynott
The Cranberries “Zombie”
Eric Bell “Irish Boy”
A beautiful autobigraphical ballad by Thin Lizzy's first guitarist (the one you hear on “Whiskey In The Jar.”
The Boomtown Rates “I Don't Like Mondays”
I grew up in a time when nobody had ever heard of a kid going down to the schoolyard with a gun and shooting everyone. Once it happened, it was so unprecedented the Rats wrote a hit song about the girl with the gun and her lame explanation. The song was a scandal in itself. It all seems 100 years ago now.
Hothouse Flowers “Don't Go”
Back in the late '80s, there was only one band slavishly imitating U2. They didn't make as much of a career of it as Coldplay has, I'll take the original copyists over the late-comers any day.
Dropkick Murphys “I'm Shipping Up To Boston.”
There are so many great Irish bands, I'm not sure why we need Irish-American ones. If we do, this is my favorite.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
An Hour Of International Superhits
Equipment: Elliptical
Time: 40 minutes (plus 10 on the walk-in-place thing)
Calories: 800-plus
Special Notes: A far wider selection is now provided via a 16 gb iPod nano. Now, I'm strapping on something like 1,800 songs on a gym visit versus my previous nano's 800-song capacity.
Mode: Shuffle. Of course.
Bruce Springsteen “From Small Things, Big Things One Day Come”
Marketing works! All the Super Bowl hype inspired me to dust off a CD of b-sides and rarities. Incidentally, I thought the E Streeters played great in the half-time thing.
Kid Rock “Half Your Age”
The title could continue to include “and twice as hot.” It’s a gleeful slap at Pam Anderson, Kid’s wife of five minutes or so. Not sure if it played on country radio, but it sure could have. Just enough bass drum to be helpful on the elliptical.
The Stooges “Gimme Danger”
A lot of times bands suffer when the drugs they’re taking are out of synch with the drugs the audience is taking. Even without the drugs, The Stooges are spooky, frantic, nervous and angry—making them more relevant to my ears today than they probably sounded to anyone in the early 70s. They're like a pre-punk Gaugin. By that, I don't mean to imply in any way that they suffered from venereal disease. I'm trying to put them in the category of a great artist who was appreciated by almost no one during his life time. Most of the Stooges remain alive, of course, but will be revered even when they're not.
P.S.: R.I.P. Ron Asheton.
Motorhead “No Class”
What better music to listen to while exercising than Lemmy Kilmister’s hammering bass and post-binge vocals. He’s like the anti-Jack LaLane (and pretty much the same age) and continues to serve as an inspiration to so many.
Jethro Tull “Cross-Eyed Mary”
Still not sure if it was a mistake to load a two-CD best-of set onto the iPod. I really enjoyed this, though. There’s a reason they won the first Heavy Metal Grammy award, isn’t there?
Green Day “Minority”
If you’re participating in any form of iPod-aided exercise and don’t yet have a copy of “International Superhits,” you’re operating at a severe disadvantage. Do yourself a favor, spend the $7.99 already (or borrow my copy).
Bad Co. “Silver, Blue & Gold”
Thin Lizzy “Roisin Dubh; The Black Rose”
So you like “Jailbreak,” do you? Well, the Lizzies made at least a dozen songs that were even better, and this is one of the best of those. Stay tuned for a full breakdown of my Irish Sweepstakes playlist. I’ll put it up in plenty of time for St. Patrick’s Day.
Iggy Pop “The Passenger”
ELO “Share A Little Love”
It’s wonderful how the Electric Light Orchestra was able to bring to full fruition what the Beatles had only begun to explore. If only John, Paul, George and Ringo had stayed at it a bit longer, they might have achieved the likes of this.
The Donnas “Hot Pants”
My theory: The Ramones wrote this, knew it was a great song, but didn’t want to the dudes that sang about this subject matter, hot pants. The Donnas, as well as us listeners, were the beneficiaries of that gift. This is not, by the way, the James Brown song of the same name, but is almost as good.
Keith Richards “You Don’t Move Me Anymore”
Nothing the Stones recorded since “Some Girls” comes close to equaling this song from Keith’s first solo album. Keith, I'm sorry to say that I, as a listener, feel a bit cheated that you spent so many years as a drugged-out wastral when you were capable of work like this. Might have been worth it to you, but I'd have preferred a bit more nose to the grindstone and a bit less of your inhaling God knows what
Fountains of Wayne “Stacy’s Mom.”
Do you think of a specific neighborhood mom when you hear this? I do. She was then up to five years younger than I am now, probably.
David Bowie “Hang On To Yourself”
My 10-year-old song latched on to “Ziggy Stardust” as his favorite album from pretty much the first time he heard it. He’s got excellent taste.
Jet “Cold Hard Bitch”
The Who “Quadrophenia”
Had a friend in high school (Conrad Payne—Are you out there Conrad?) who drove hundreds of miles every night delivering pizza. He only owned one tape, “Quadrophenia.” For at least a year, he only had that one tape. Now, I don’t think I could get by for any length of time with just one album, but if I were forced to, this might also be the one I’d pick.
Time: 40 minutes (plus 10 on the walk-in-place thing)
Calories: 800-plus
Special Notes: A far wider selection is now provided via a 16 gb iPod nano. Now, I'm strapping on something like 1,800 songs on a gym visit versus my previous nano's 800-song capacity.
Mode: Shuffle. Of course.
Bruce Springsteen “From Small Things, Big Things One Day Come”
Marketing works! All the Super Bowl hype inspired me to dust off a CD of b-sides and rarities. Incidentally, I thought the E Streeters played great in the half-time thing.
Kid Rock “Half Your Age”
The title could continue to include “and twice as hot.” It’s a gleeful slap at Pam Anderson, Kid’s wife of five minutes or so. Not sure if it played on country radio, but it sure could have. Just enough bass drum to be helpful on the elliptical.
The Stooges “Gimme Danger”
A lot of times bands suffer when the drugs they’re taking are out of synch with the drugs the audience is taking. Even without the drugs, The Stooges are spooky, frantic, nervous and angry—making them more relevant to my ears today than they probably sounded to anyone in the early 70s. They're like a pre-punk Gaugin. By that, I don't mean to imply in any way that they suffered from venereal disease. I'm trying to put them in the category of a great artist who was appreciated by almost no one during his life time. Most of the Stooges remain alive, of course, but will be revered even when they're not.
P.S.: R.I.P. Ron Asheton.
Motorhead “No Class”
What better music to listen to while exercising than Lemmy Kilmister’s hammering bass and post-binge vocals. He’s like the anti-Jack LaLane (and pretty much the same age) and continues to serve as an inspiration to so many.
Jethro Tull “Cross-Eyed Mary”
Still not sure if it was a mistake to load a two-CD best-of set onto the iPod. I really enjoyed this, though. There’s a reason they won the first Heavy Metal Grammy award, isn’t there?
Green Day “Minority”
If you’re participating in any form of iPod-aided exercise and don’t yet have a copy of “International Superhits,” you’re operating at a severe disadvantage. Do yourself a favor, spend the $7.99 already (or borrow my copy).
Bad Co. “Silver, Blue & Gold”
Thin Lizzy “Roisin Dubh; The Black Rose”
So you like “Jailbreak,” do you? Well, the Lizzies made at least a dozen songs that were even better, and this is one of the best of those. Stay tuned for a full breakdown of my Irish Sweepstakes playlist. I’ll put it up in plenty of time for St. Patrick’s Day.
Iggy Pop “The Passenger”
ELO “Share A Little Love”
It’s wonderful how the Electric Light Orchestra was able to bring to full fruition what the Beatles had only begun to explore. If only John, Paul, George and Ringo had stayed at it a bit longer, they might have achieved the likes of this.
The Donnas “Hot Pants”
My theory: The Ramones wrote this, knew it was a great song, but didn’t want to the dudes that sang about this subject matter, hot pants. The Donnas, as well as us listeners, were the beneficiaries of that gift. This is not, by the way, the James Brown song of the same name, but is almost as good.
Keith Richards “You Don’t Move Me Anymore”
Nothing the Stones recorded since “Some Girls” comes close to equaling this song from Keith’s first solo album. Keith, I'm sorry to say that I, as a listener, feel a bit cheated that you spent so many years as a drugged-out wastral when you were capable of work like this. Might have been worth it to you, but I'd have preferred a bit more nose to the grindstone and a bit less of your inhaling God knows what
Fountains of Wayne “Stacy’s Mom.”
Do you think of a specific neighborhood mom when you hear this? I do. She was then up to five years younger than I am now, probably.
David Bowie “Hang On To Yourself”
My 10-year-old song latched on to “Ziggy Stardust” as his favorite album from pretty much the first time he heard it. He’s got excellent taste.
Jet “Cold Hard Bitch”
The Who “Quadrophenia”
Had a friend in high school (Conrad Payne—Are you out there Conrad?) who drove hundreds of miles every night delivering pizza. He only owned one tape, “Quadrophenia.” For at least a year, he only had that one tape. Now, I don’t think I could get by for any length of time with just one album, but if I were forced to, this might also be the one I’d pick.
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