2006-10-12 - Lost Songs of the 1970's

The problem with audiences--and forgive me if you're part of that crowd--is they always want something. You could rehearse the most carefully chosen set of tunes, all tied together in the most clever of artistic statements, and there's always someone out there who wants to hear "Brown-Eyed Girl." No disrespect to Van Morrison, but I hope I never play that song again.

At first, I suppose, it's flattering. You're playing, and someone throws out a request, so you oblige. The audience may like you more (assuming you actually played a decent version of the song), and you might feel like you accomplished something because you could deliver the goods. But if there's something else you'd rather be playing, you'll soon be tired of "Brown-Eyed Girl."

There are plenty of songs I'd rather play. For example, I spent many years focusing on originals, playing either in alternative-ish rock bands or going the solo singer-songwriter route. Then, I drifted into instrumental jazz territory, which I liked because it was more flexible and abstract. A nice side benefit of playing originals or jazz: you don't get many requests. These types of gigs deflect expectations because the audience generally doesn't know the songs. If you play "Moondance," they expect "Brown-Eyed Girl," but if you avoid that sort of thing completely, you're free to focus on whatever you want to play.


My monthly "Lost Songs" series last Fall was born from this same idea. I happen to like playing rock cover songs, but I don't like playing the ones that everyone else plays. Rather, I prefer the neglected, forgotten, obscure, or otherwise under-appreciated, so I put together a series of fours shows devoted to these "lost" songs, with each show focusing a particular decade.

It was an eclectic series, as evidenced by this set list from the second show, "Lost Songs of the 1970's":

1. Better Off Without a Wife. It's a Tom Waits song from 1975, though I play it more in the style of an uptempo remake done by another 70's performer, Pete Shelley of The Buzzcocks.
2. Fools in Love. Since the 70's had a lot of reggae, I wanted to at least represent it in my set. Bob Marley I ain't, so I went with this reggae-influenced rock tune by Joe Jackson instead.
3. Radio Radio. If you're going to do angry new wave like Joe Jackson, you have do Elvis Costello, too. Playing this song, I always think of the time Costello played it on Saturday Night Live in 1977. He had agreed to play an established single, as requested by his record company, but at the last minute he jumped into this diatribe against the music business instead. One of rock history's great middle finger moments.
4. Turn on Your Radio. In the late 60's, when an interviewer asked who their favorite songwriters were, John Lennon and Paul McCartney both gave props to Harry Nilsson. So I did too, with this song from his 1972 album, Son of Schmilsson. I read somewhere that the album featured Peter Frampton on guitar, so when I played this, I was thinking about Peter Frampton.
   
5. Outdoor Miner. I've never actually heard the original version of this 1978 tune by the post-punk band Wire. I know it only from cover versions I've heard by other bands.
   
6. 'Coz I Luv You. Though Slade wasn't well known in America, they were huge in the UK. This 1971 tune was a #1 there, as were several of their other songs, including the original version of "Cum on Feel the Noize," which was famously covered by Quiet Riot in the 80's.
7. Did We Meet Somewhere Before? How do you work Paul McCartney into a show of lesser-knowns? Pick a really obscure song like this one, which appeared uncredited in the Ramones-themed cult film Rock and Roll High School.
   
8. Way Out West. If ever a band were meant for a Lost Songs show, Big Star is it. They're the best-known obscure band around, and with good reason. Catchy yet meaty songs, a great back story, and lots of disciples (R.E.M. and Weezer being the most famous). Their most recognizable song is the original version of "In the Street" (the theme to TV's That 70's Show), a song that I played live a few weeks ago.
   
9. The Ballad of El Goodo. And because Big Star is so perfect for a Lost Songs show, I actually did two of theirs in a row. I can't think of many songs that I would describe as a favorite, but this is one of them.
   
10. Ten Years Gone. You can't cover the 70's without a bit of Zeppelin. I tried to pick the least known tune that I could actually sing, so I ended up with this mini epic from Physical Graffiti.
    
11. Bill Jones' General Store. Just in case people knew too many of the others, I decided to throw in one really obscure tune. It's by a singer-songwriter named Jud Strunk, who was from the part of Maine where I live. He gained some national attention on the TV show Laugh-In and had a Top 20 song called "Daisy a Day" in 1973. He stuck around the area, and as a young'un I once picked blueberries in his yard. The song I played is about an actual old general store that used to be around here somewhere.
    
12. All Things Must Pass. OK, so calling this a lost song is a bit of a stretch. It's the title track from possibly the most significant solo Beatle album--first #1 album by a solo Beatle, best selling solo Beatle album, pinnacle of George Harrison's impressive writing career--but I played it anyway. Sometimes, you just have to play what you like.