Monthly Archives: October 2009

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Song of the Day #457: ‘Getting Better’ – The Beatles

sgt_pepperI’ve highlighted a “Paul album” and a “John album” so now it’s time to focus on one that’s a bit of both. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was a collaborative effort, with John and Paul sharing input on most of the album’s 13 tracks. The few exceptions mostly belong to McCartney (‘Fixing a Hole,’ ‘When I’m 64,’ ‘Lovely Rita’) although Lennon is credited with authorship of ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ and ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite.’

The album’s best-loved track, ‘A Day in the Life,’ is split in two, with John contributing the dreamy verses and Paul the upbeat center portion (as well as the cacophonous crescendos in the middle and at the end. One of the reasons that song rises to the upper tier of my list of favorite Beatles songs is how beautifully it combines the personalities and talents of those two songwriters.

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Song of the Day #456: ‘New Routine’ – Fountains of Wayne

trafficweatherFountains of Wayne’s fourth, and most recent, album is 2007’s Traffic and Weather. It’s similar in tone and content to their previous three although, for my money, the songwriting isn’t quite as strong.

Traffic and Weather continues the FOW pattern of turning life’s mundane details into pop art. The album features a song about a guy crushing on a pretty teller while waiting in line at the DMV; one about buying a ’92 Subaru (with an “alarm system so confusing we can’t even get in”); another about a drive down I-95 to meet your girlfriend.

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Song of the Day #455: ‘…Baby One More Time’ – Fountains of Wayne

outofstateTwo years after Welcome Interstate Managers, Fountains of Wayne released a double-CD compilation of B-sides and unreleased tracks titled Out-of-State Plates. The collection was a bit of a disappointment, as those things go, stuffed with novelty tracks that probably would have better off hidden.

This album backs up my observation that Welcome Interstate Managers is about four songs too long. It seems Fountains of Wayne is a band that hits big when they hit but otherwise has a little trouble connecting with the ball. To use a football analogy, they’re like a wide receiver who makes a lot of big plays but also drops a lot of easy passes. (That reminds me of Buddy Ryan’s famous comment about Cris Carter — meant as a criticism: “All he does is catch touchdowns.”)

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Song of the Day #454: ‘Valley Winter Song’ – Fountains of Wayne

welcomeinterstateIf I had to name Fountains of Wayne’s best album, I’d be torn between Utopia Parkway and 2003’s Welcome Interstate Managers. Utopia Parkway is a more focused and consistent album, but many of the songs on Welcome Interstate Managers are the band’s best yet.

Managers is one of those cases, more prevalent these days it seems, of an album where less is more. It is a really good album at 16 songs. At 12 it would be amazing. The first six songs fly by in a burst of creativity and craftsmanship but things start to fall apart a few songs after that. Everything here is good but they needed an editor. Of course, in the MP3 era we can all be editors, and it’s easy enough to re-sequence the album as an iTunes playlist.

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Song of the Day #453: ‘Troubled Times’ – Fountains of Wayne

utopiaFountains of Wayne’s second album, 1999’s Utopia Parkway, was my first introduction to the band. I heard the fabulous song ‘Denise’ on a compilation album that came with a music magazine and I was instantly hooked.

For some reason I thought they were a Christian rock band. I think I was confusing them with Jars of Clay. But when I picked up the album I realized that I was completely off base (not that there’s anything wrong with Christian rock bands… it’s just not the sort of thing I want to listen to). Thirty seconds into ‘Red Dragon Tattoo’ I knew I’d found a new band to add to my list of favorites.

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