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Song of the Day #1,578: ‘Private Eyes’ – Hall & Oates

Hall & Oates is another band that has eluded me over the years. I’m certainly familiar with their biggest hits — ‘Sara Smile,’ ‘I Can’t Go For That,’ ‘Kiss On My List,’ ‘Private Eyes’ — but I’ve never owned an album of theirs nor could I tell you much about them.

My most significant exposure to Daryl Hall, in fact, came through his duet with Elvis Costello on the latter’s ‘Only Flame in Town.’

Hall & Oates’ music is often described as blue-eyed soul or white soul, two labels I find hilarious. Does that make Darius Rucker black country?

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Song of the Day #1,577: ‘Just Like Heaven’ – The Cure

I’ve completely missed the boat on The Cure, for better or worse. I know almost nothing about them apart from front-man Robert Smith’s resemblance to Edward Scissorhands and a passing familiarity with a few of their most popular songs.

I certainly had no idea that the band had released 15 studio albums dating back to 1979. In fact, 1987’s Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me — the successful album that featured today’s Song of the Day — was The Cure’s ninth release. I didn’t exactly consider them a one-hit wonder but no way did I imagine they had that kind of longevity.

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Song of the Day #1,576: ‘Stomach Vs. Heart’ – Barenaked Ladies

‘Stomach Vs. Heart’ is the bizarre first track of Barenaked Ladies’ bizarre third album, 1996’s Born On a Pirate Ship. This song is a perfect example of the offbeat musical and lyrical sensibility that makes BNL such a love-them-or-hate-them proposition.

Personally, I can’t imagine anybody hating them. But I guess if you are turned off by show-offy, self-aware lyrics and general quirkiness, then you will be turned off by Barenaked Ladies.

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Song of the Day #1,575: ‘Tramp the Dirt Down (Demo)’ – Elvis Costello

Today’s Random Weekend selection is similar to the Lucinda Williams track posted last Sunday — a raw, acoustic demo of an album cut.

In this case the performer is Elvis Costello and the song is ‘Tramp the Dirt Down’ from 1989’s Spike.

This is a song — in both its finished form and as a demo — with which I have lost patience over the years.

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Song of the Day #1,574: ‘If You Were Here’ – Thompson Twins

Plenty of 80s songs were used in 80s movies, kind of by definition. But there aren’t many 80s songs that I immediately associate with certain films.

Two that leap to mind are ‘Jesse’s Girl’ and ‘Sister Christian,’ both used to tremendous effect in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights. But of course that was a movies made in the late 90s about the 70s and 80s.

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