Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 93

My Top 1000 Songs #274: Anarchy In The UK

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

So, hey, new king across the pond. How 'bout that?

Anyway, as noted previously, it was "Pretty Vacant" that introduced teenage me, somewhat belatedly, to the Sex Pistols. But since I didn't know it was a Pistols song, when I finally got around to buying Never Mind The Bollocks, "Anarchy In The UK" was the song I was most curious about. I'd never heard it (no...

My Top 1000 Songs #273: You Get What You Deserve

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

I'm trying to be selective and not overload this list with every song Big Star recorded--which, c'mon, would be kinda justified--but at some point I have to relent and throw in another one. "You Get What You Deserve," off 1974 sophomore LP Radio City, is a master-class in both power pop songwriting and studio production. While the first album rightfully get...

My Top 1000 Songs #272: Enola Gay

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark's 1980 single "Enola Gay" (from the album Organisation) is another new wave-era track that always transports me back to a particular moment in time. Back in high school, as I was pivoting from my ongoing fixation with classic rock and prog into newer music, catching the 1982 concert film Urgh! A Music War on late-night cabl...

My Top 1000 Songs #271: On The Road To Find Out

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

As noted previously, I had a convoluted relationship with Cat Stevens (later Yusuf Islam). Some early associations--overnight camp campfire sing-alongs, girlfriends who played his greatest hits album to death--put me off of his music for awhile. But seeing Harold & Maude in college, which made judicious use of his music, gave him some hipster cred, and over...

My Top 1000 Songs #270: Why Can't I Touch It?

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

1979 single "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" was my introduction to the amazing Buzzcocks, and remains a personal favorite (we'll get there soon enough), subverting my suburban Midwestern understanding of British punk rock by offering infectious power pop in a turbo-charged package. But the real draw for me was the b-side, "Why Can't I Touch It?" (both availabl...

My Top 1000 Songs #269: King Of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1-3

It's hard to convey the sensory overload I experienced when I first played Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea upon its release in 1998. I'd read some glowing reviews, but really didn't know what to expect, having missed their 1996 debut (aside from assuming it would be comparable to the Apples of Stereo, a band I already loved, and whose Robert Schneider produced it). I still remember the excitement of sitting in the parking lot of the sadly defunct in Mountain View...

My Top 1000 Songs #268: Meadows

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

You never forget your first concert! I've written previously about the awkward time my parents took me to see Joe Walsh for my 15th birthday (both in my book and here.) That was the first time I heard Walsh's "Meadows," off his 1973 LP The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get.

I'm a fair ways beyond 15 now, but still have enduring love for the song. It's dri...

My Top 1000 Songs #267: The Walls Came Down

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

I have hazy memories of hearing The Call's 1983 single "The Walls Came Down" at a high school party. And ever since, whenever I hear it, I feel like a 17-year-old kid hanging out with friends in someone's basement in suburban Chicago while their parents were out of town, drinking cheap beer purchased with a fake ID while bitching about school and worrying a...

My Top 1000 Songs #266: Zum Herz

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Ah, the age-old question: How old does a song have to be before you can consider it one of your all-time favorites? My collection is littered with music I adored upon release, but which has been gathering dust for years, at most enjoying the pleasant surprise and sense of familiarity when it pops up on shuffle play.

Surely a song less than a year old shouldn...

My Top 1000 Songs #265: Emma Blowgun's Last Stand

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Don't let the oddball song title fool you--"Emma Blowgun's Last Stand," off Beulah's 1999 When Your Heartstrings Break, is a sprawling yet enchanting little pop song with grand ambitions. The San Francisco-based band didn't get quite the same attention as other Elephant 6-related acts like Apples in Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel, but their second LP is pack...