Throwback Tracks -- November 30, 2017
David R. Smith
Huh. For some reason I thought there were only 4 Thursdays in the month of November. I realized I was wrong when I was planning this week's Throwback Tracks. Funny how one can get something like that wrong. Not that this affects anything. At all. I'd still have to do a TBT for this week. It just means you now have a 25 song playlist to listen to when the new month hits.
Whelp. Without further ramblings, here are the last songs for TBT of the month.
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.
Ventura Highway - America
I put this song first because it's the one that's been on my mind lately. I love America. It's really weird to say that, when you think about the country of the same name. I'm not so in love with the country, as some crazy things are happening down there. But the band is awesome.
For years when I heard Horse With No Name, I just assumed this was another band that Neil Young sang for. Turns out he had nothing to do with them.
They have so many great songs, but I would contest that this is their best. I love this intro. And one of the reasons this song has been stuck in my head is because I've taken it upon myself to learn this song on guitar. Now... I will never get it perfect but when I play that opening riff, anybody who knows the song will know what I'm going for. And that's all I need. Great tune by, I think, an underrated band.
Man on the Moon - REM
I watched the documentary Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond last night. Because I'm a fairly large fan of Jim Carrey, and loved his performance as Andy Kaufman. Now, I was pretty young when Andy Kaufman died, so there wasn't a lot of loss there for me. But it was cool watching the movie. And watching the documentary made things... weirder... It was pretty remarkable watching Jim Carrey do everything AS Andy Kaufman/Tony Clifton.
Anyway, that's not what we're here to talk about. As a result of watching that film last night, I had Man on the Moon stuck in my head for the better part of a day. And rightfully so. How good is this song? All about Andy Kaufman? Great. I even had to google the line "Mr. Fred Blassie and a breakfast mess" because I had no idea what the reference was.
I love songs that are homages to people. This is one of the better ones. REM was hit and miss for me as a child but the older I get, the more I appreciate them. That said; I've always loved this song.
Plowed - Sponge
Oh. Man. What a great song. I never would have thought about this song for TBT, except I was working on a set model at work today with a playlist on and this song came on. It's one of those ones that I love whenever I hear it, but can never remember the title, or the group name. But now it's entrenched in the lore of Throwback Tracks, so I can come back and find it whenever I want!
This song has a great feeling to it. It doesn't exactly have the most uplifting of lyrics to it, but it seems like a song that when it comes on, one can't help but just put their head down and jam to it.
Glory Box - Portishead
If you ever get a chance to listen to Portishead live at Roseland NY, do it. It's a fabulous album. What's even better is watching it. When you get to this song, you can see Beth Orton, the lead singer, holding the mic with a smoke in her hand. She's one of the coolest people, with one of the best, most haunting voices ever.
When you first hear the lyrics, they're already great but they're modified for effect. But that first line "Give me a reason to love you" when it's just her? Oh man. It's like a knife in the heart. She just makes you ache. And that's not a bad thing. Quite the opposite, in fact!
This song has a perfect blend of exceptional instrumentation, voice modification and electronica. It's not a standard genre of music I tend to gravitate towards, but there's something about Portishead that I absolutely adore.
Indestructible - Matthew Good Band
By all accounts, Matt Good is kind of a jackass. And this is coming from some of his largest fans. I just think he's really smart and kind of pretentious. That said, he is a hell of a song writer.
Many many years ago, he and Nickleback had a feud going and Nickleback made a comment about how they were making more money and were more popular. There's no denying that Nickleback is a much larger draw. I've seen Matt Good 3 times and the largest stage was at the Stampede, and he was an opening act for The Hip. That said, though, I much prefer the music of Matt Good to Nickleback. Maybe because I'm not a bro? I just appreciate his lyrics. He sings about real life and, well, not getting drunk and high. Well. Maybe he does. Most musicians do at some point. But my point is that his music has substance and doesn't make me hate things. So go Matt Good!
As I said at the top, I forgot there was an extra Thursday this month, so the new playlist isn't ready for you. Yet. But it should be next week! Until then, won't you check out some of the other wonderful TBT playlists we've created?
October 2017 TBT Playlist (and the October 2017 Spotify), September 2017 TBT Playlist (and the September 2017 Spotify), August 2017 TBT Playlist (and the August Spotify list), July 2017 TBT Playlist (and the July Spotify List), June 2017 TBT Playlist (and the June Spotify List), May 2017 TBT Playlist, April 2017 TBT Playlist, March 2017 TBT Playlist , February 2017 TBT Playlist
2016
Throwback Playlist for Dec 16/Jan 17, October 2016 Throwback Playlist, September 2016 Throwback Playlist, August 2016 Throwback Playlist, July 2016 Throwback Playlist, June 2016 Throwback Playlist, May 2016 Throwback Playlist, April 2016 Throwback Playlist
-D (@davidronn)