Throwback Tracks--August 4, 2016
Shaun Cordingley
Feeling a bit 90s today...oh, and I, Shaun, am back, because really, two weeks in a row would probably fell Dave.
Imagine I'm winking there. Well go to my twitter, so you can see what I look like, then imagine me winking. Or just think about Bryan Cranston: you do you.
The Guys From do not hold the rights to any of these songs, it is more our hope to expose our readers to new (*cough*) and different retro music, or re-expose them to things they may have forgotten about.
At the top of each section, will be the song name, followed by the artists' name linked to their website (if possible...which is totally hit and miss with oldies), so you can fall down the rabbit hole, finding and supporting what you dig.
Undone - The Sweater Song - Weezer
It's actually a little hard to believe that "Undone - The Sweater Song" by Weezer is already 22 years old, but this was, in fact, the bands debut single from their self-titled first album. It's very simple (especially in terms of chord progression) song, wherein you really get a flash of some metal roots, with some Metallica in there, but there's just something so charming about this hazy slice of 90s alt-rock. Weezer always just feels like amazing alt-rock with a wicked sense of humour...and there are just not enough bands out there who do not take everything super seriously.
Weezer just recently released a new album the white album which is pretty damn good as well, if you are looking for some more recent Weezer, and they are currently touring with Panic at the Disco.
Tonight, Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins
Generally whenever I say that "I'm feeling 90s", it is usually brought on by an intense desire to listen to The Smashing Pumpkins. We already talked about "Drown" back in April, so I won't spend too much time gushing about the Pumpkins Today (whee!), just "Tonight, Tonight" a bit.
Off of one of the greatest albums ever released, 1995's Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, whose only less than great reviews were largely commenting on how the lyrics wallow in misery...on an album called Mellon Collie and the INFINITE SADNESS...but I digress. "Tonight, Tonight" is an emotional wallop of a song, with Billy Corgan largely addressing himself, and driving on to keep believing in himself after succeeding against all odds.
The video, is one of the best music videos ever made: created as a tribute to early filmmaker George Méliès (perhaps best known now for his 1902 film A Trip to the Moon) the video won 6 MTV Video Awards, and still stands out today as not only an achievement in visual effects, but as a delivery vehicle for both one of the great 90s songs, and a (weird, Smashing Pumpkins-y) story of its' own.
One Headlight - The Wallflowers
When it comes to The Wallflowers, "One Headlight" is probably the best known song, at least I do remember it being on the radio endlessly, winning two Grammys, and being named #58 on Rolling Stone's Top 500 songs of all time. Which I totally buy into: Jakob Dylan's lyrics about the "Death of Ideas", and story of The Wallflower's struggles to put Bringing Down the Horse together, and the excellent, blues-rock vibe, expertly produced by T-Bone Burnett just works...almost too well.
There are several great songs by the band, but nothing has come close to the brilliance of "One Headlight" and thus, the rest of their work is often overshadowed. I realize I am not helping, but when I was going through their other songs, I keep coming back to "One Headlight"...just like most everybody else.
Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters
...so the Foo Fighters have not been on any of our lists so far....somewhow...
Off of 1997's The Colour and the Shape, which was ultimately the debut of the band as a group (as opposed to 1995s Foo FIghters being largely a demo for David Grohl and Barrett Jones), "Monkey Wrench" was admittedly the song that got me to become the Foo Fighters fan I am now. I love this song. I loved it when it came out, I love it at least as much now. This is one hell of an uptempo rock song, and was such an antithesis to most of the everything else that was kicking around in 1997 as popular music dealt with all the weirdness of the post-grunge era. PLUS, it's another band with a sense of humour (and who can spell Colour properly) so they've got a leg up with me immediately.
I know the Foo Fighters have made "better" songs, but my heart will always belong to the song that introduced me to the band.
In Bloom - Nirvana
It's a 90s list: Nirvana. Now I realize that, considering I put the "best known song" of The Wallflowers up, I could have gone with "Smells Like Teen Spirit" but, while I acknowledge that is a damn good song, it is a) overplayed and b) far from my favorite Nirvana song.
In fact, my favorite very well could be "In Bloom"; the fourth and final single from Nevermind...although and actual 'Single' version of "In Bloom" was only released in the UK...for some reason...it charted, of course, but this is Nirvana we are talking about, so do the charts actually matter?
The song is pitch perfect: "In Bloom" is about people from outside of the underground music scene who began showing up at Nirvana shows after the release of Bleach, and yet the irony is, "In Bloom" is one of those songs that transcended into being popular enough that millions of those people would be able to sing-along with the chorus...which is just so Nirvana, it's almost silly.
Here is the July 2016 Throwback Playlist done in the usual fashion of trying to make it sound a bit like a set (which is never easy without transitions, or just yapping until I change genres)...this one was tricky thanks to Dave's journey through pre-Pearl Jam songs not really going with anything but themselves, but we've got a playlist!
In case you missed our previous Throwback Track playlists, here they are:
I will see you again next Thursday with some new....oldies...*cough*
-S (@Shauncord)