Today’s Random Weekend selection offers up the rare opportunity to hear a song, and an artist, for the very first time.
As with so many albums in my music collection, I don’t know how I came into possession of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s self-titled debut album. Nor do I know anything about this band; not their country of origin, number of members, musical genre, nothing. So this is truly a moment of discovery.
The songwriting matchup of Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello yielded many memorable tunes and a couple of minor hits, including Macca’s ‘My Brave Face’ and Elvis’ ‘Veronica.’
You’ll find lots to love in the deeper cuts as well, such as today’s Random SOTD, from the back half of Costello’s 1989 album Spike.
‘Pads, Paws and Claws’ takes its title from a “junk shop book” and depicts one of the unhealthier relationships in the Costello canon, which is saying something.
Time to shed some tears for those who’ve left us, as Day 25 in the 30 Day Music Challenge calls for ‘A Song By An Artist No Longer Living.’
I planned this post before the sad passing of Tom Petty and I opted not to change it up to feature him. His loss is too recent to be acknowledged in this one-off blog post. He deserves a proper tribute, and I plan to give him one soon.
I had a harder time than I expected making a pick for Day 24 of the 30 Day Music Challenge, which asks for ‘A Song By a Band/Group You Wish Were Still Together.’
For one thing, most of my favorite artists turn out to be soloists. And the bands are either still together or past the point of getting back together. I don’t see The Beatles, for example, as eligible for this category because two of them are dead. I don’t think my wishing they were back together extends to wishing people back to life.
The best 30 Day Music Challenge categories are the ones left completely open to the participant’s interpretation. How you interpret the challenge is as meaningful as the song you ultimately pick.
Such is the case with Day 23’s direction to name ‘A Song That You Think Everybody Should Listen To.’ Does that mean a song you find important, so if everybody listened to it the world would somehow become a better place? Or a little-heard song that you feel needs the exposure?
Meet Me In Montauk 