CHIRP: The Chicago Independent Radio Project

Michael Bennett writes

Friday iPod/MP3 Shuffle -- Happy Birthday Alice Cooper Edition

Vincent Furnier, the son of a minister and the original theatrical rocker turns 64 today. In the late ’60s, he fronted Alice Cooper, eventually taking on his band’s name. Alice Cooper signed originally to Frank Zappa’s Bizarre label and made two albums of psychedelic tinged hard rock. Graduating to Warner Brothers, the band’s songwriting got a bit tighter and suddenly they were reeling off one classic rock song after the other. And the stage show became a legend, paving the way for Kiss and a host of other artists. Meanwhile, Mr. Cooper showed an appealing wit, leavening any heavyness with a wink and a nod. Ever since his heyday, Alice has had his ups and downs, but he is still capable of making good records and is still a great live performer. So let’s pay tribute to Alice Cooper by grabbing the ol’ iPod or MP3 player, pressing shuffle and sharing the first 10 tunes that come up.

1. Jawbox — Airwaves Dream (My Scrapbook of Fatal Accidents): Fantastic cover of a Buzzcocks tune, from the tail end of the first part of the Buzzcocks’ career. The angular guitar lines of this number meld well with the Jawbox sound, while the band’s rhythm section really propels things. It’s especially cool to hear J. Robbins do the vocal — a bit more muscular than Pete Shelley.
2. Madness — Africa (The Liberty Of Norton Folgate): While this most recent Madness album focuses primarily on London, this languid track, which is laid back reggae mixed with a dusting of Afro-beat is a great ode to the need to get away from it all. Despite the desire to go to an exotic location, the lyrics really do a good job of painting how dreary life can be and why we need dreams and fantasies to keep up going sometimes.
3. The Hues Corporation — Rock The Boat (Have A Nice Decade): A true one hit wonder, but what a great one shot! This is a great piece of poppy R & B, with four outstanding sections — the pre-chorus, the chorus, the verse and the ultra-sublime bridge. It would have been a crime had it not been a hit.
4. Melony — I Hang On (Quicksilver): A criminally underrated Swedish power pop trio who actually managed to get their debut album released on Geffen, and this, their second album, only released in Japan. Oh well. Melony specialized in the sunny melodies that fellow Swedes such as The Wannadies and Eggstone also penned, but they had an extra rock punch and a skewed lyrical sensibility that made them stand out. The second album was not as amazing as the first, but it still is full of peppy, fun ditties like this one.
5. Parts & Labor — Chaning Of The Guard (Stay Afraid): The longer rock music lurches on, the harder it is to carve out a distinctive sound. Parts & Labor manages to do that, in part due to their lineup, which emphasizes an overmodulated keyboards, backed by a powerful rhythm section. Their melodies are deceptively strong, with songs that sound like a mid point between Bob Mould and The Dismemberment Plan (at least that’s how it sounds to me). On this song, there’s not much bottom — it’s mainly high end keyboard and drums that rely on lots of cymbal splashing. An odd arrangement that works well.
6. The Jim Jones Revue — Burning Your House Down (Burning Your House Down): Jones used to be in the Stooges inspired Thee Hypnotics. Now he is fronting a great garage rock band that connects the dots between Jerry Lee Lewis, The Sonics and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Jones roars his vocals and the band is spot on, managing to swing but with a certain heavyness. This is from the band’s second album, a 2010 release, and the chances that they are anything less than a stellar live act are about .00001%.
7. Terry Reid — Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) (Super Lungs: The Complete Studio Recordings): Terry Reid is a cult figure, a British singer who fits in the great inspired tradition of folks like Steve Marriott. He also is an ace guitarist. But he never managed to break a big hit. This is a cover of Cher’s classic single (yes, Cher), written by Sonny Bono. Reid keeps the drama and turns this into a rock rave up, and his vocal is awesome.
8. APB — Shoot You Down (Something to Believe In): Hmm…another shooting tune. APB (or, actually, apb) were a Scottish post-punk band that mixed the white anti-funk of Gang Of Four with actual funk bass lines to create funky anti-funk. They wrote songs that were well suited for angry fist waving or maximum booty shaking. This track does have a solid groove.
9. Louis Armstrong — Memories Of You (The Essential Louis Armstrong): A beautiful melody and the great voice and trumpet of Satchmo — how can you go wrong?
10. The Chameleons — Tears (Strange Times): In some circles, The Chameleons are at the top of the heap of the post-punk heap, ahead of even such luminaries as Echo and the Bunnymen and The Sound. I’m not sure of that, but I think it’s a legitimate belief. The band was masterful with texture, with a prominent bottom and an array of inviting guitar sounds. On this mid-tempo song, the guitar sounds are shimmering notes ornamenting the liquid rhythms. Over all of this, Mark Burgess rules all with his passionate and dramatic voice.