CHIRP: The Chicago Independent Radio Project

Michael Bennett writes

Friday iPod/MP3 Shuffle -- Happy Birthday Robert Wyatt Edition

It was 44 years ago that Robert Wyatt helped found Soft Machine, the seminal British prog-rock band that morphed from psychedelia to a unique brand of jazz fusion. After he left the Machine, he formed the equally arty Matching Mole. As that band wound down, Wyatt fell out of fourth floor window at a party, and was paralyzed from the waist down. This ended his career on drums. However, this did not stop Wyatt, Instead, he carried on as one of the most distinguished art-pop vocalists, working with everyone from Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason to Elvis Costello. Wyatt’s voice has a haunting quality, well displayed on last year’s Wyatt, Atzmon, Stephen album, For The Ghosts Within, which we played often at CHIRP. In honor of Mr. Wyatt, please grab your iPod or MP3 player, hit shuffle and share the first ten songs that come up.

1. Off Broadway — Money’s No Good (On): This is from Off Broadway’s debut album, which is an essential slice of Midwest power pop. This Chicago band mixed Cliff Johnson’s Lennon-esque voice with stylized guitars, strong melodies and hooks galore. Not only that, the lyrics were sometimes pretty interesting. This is one of the lesser cuts, but it is good display of the band’s craft, with a really good middle eight and fine lead guitar work.
2. The Godfathers — If I Only Had Time (Birth, School, Work, Death): The Godfathers fit in a conceptual gap between punk, pub rock and power pop, playing energetic rock and roll songs with a heavy dose of attitude. This song pre-dated the band’s first major label album, and it’s has the band’s usual tough guy stance, with aggressive guitars and fine harmony vocals helping drive the chorus. These guys are in town on February 10, and I might have to get a ticket.
3. The Beat Farmers — Never Goin’ Back (Tales of the New West): There was a country rock revival in the mid-‘80s, with bands adding punky energy to country ideas. The Beat Farmers were more rock than other bands of this ilk, but they had just enough twang. They do a great job on this Lovin’ Spoonful, giving a nice folk-pop song a nice kick.
4. The Blasters — Boomtown (Non Fiction): A steam train of a song, with The Blasters playing a fast rock ‘n’ roll shuffle with Phil Alvin howling in the wind. The Blasters shared a working class sensibility with their contemporaries The Minutemen and this song is actually relevant today, talking about a industrial city where things are falling apart.
5. Martin Gordon — Every Little Thing (The Joy of More Hogwash): Gordon got his start in Sparks, playing bass on their breakthrough Kimono My House, but was sacked for wanting to write songs. So he went on to lead the glammy Jet and the punky Radio Stars, and then carved out a path as a session musician, playing with Blur, The Rolling Stones and on world music records. When he finally got back to making his own music in the past decade, he went back to what he did with Radio Stars and Jet — power pop with witty lyrics. Gordon has a classic songwriting sound, in the vein of bands like The Move, Cheap Trick and, yes, Sparks.
6. Creedence Clearwater Revival — Bootleg (Bayou Country): A lesser known CCR cut, but this is quintessential swamp rock. John Fogerty’s distinctive vocals are counterpointed by his unique blues guitar licks. This song is in the vein of classics like “Born On The Bayou” (which proceeds it on the album) and “Green River”. That’s good company.
7. Randy Newman — I Miss You (Bad Love): 1999’s Bad Love deserves to be ranked with Newman’s early classic albums. While he’s best know for his sarcastic social commentary, when he plays it straight he can really cut to the bone. This is about a divorced man who wants his now remarried wife back. It’s just Randy, his piano and some strings. He builds up the emotion in each verse, setting up a payoff in the tender choruses. This is also one of his best vocal performances. A great song.
8. Lyle Lovett — I Married Her Just Because She Looks Like You (Lyle Lovett And His Large Band): It’s easy to take Lovett for granted, but he’s a brilliant songwriter with a wonderful voice. He made his mark early on by subverting country cliches in a manner that showed affection for the genre. The title here gives it away, as he compares his wife to his former love, the wife having the same look but treating him so much better.
9. Bob Welch — Precious Love (The Best of Bob Welch): The former Fleetwood Mac guitarist’s final Top 40 hit. This is a mid-tempo rock song with disco drums and strings laid over on the top. The sappy melody, fuzzy guitars and disco production touches make this fairly cheesy, but in a good way.
10. The Prisoners — Whenever I’m Gone (Children of Nuggets): A British garage rock revivalist from the ’80s. These guys definitely have the sound down and this song sounds more like 1966 than 1986.