Throwback Tracks -- July 20, 2017
David R. Smith
I've been watching a lot of South Park lately. It's for a little project Shaun and I are working on. If this is your first time on the site, welcome! If you're not new, and you've been a loyal reader of the things we (read: mostly Shaun) post, then you'll probably have an idea of what this project is. I'm not going to tell you you're right, but if you use your detective skills, you can probably guess what will eventually be coming down the pipe. And that's all I'm going to say about that.
That said, in the past, I did a TBT list based on songs played in the Simpsons. Since I'm on a fairly large South Park trend at the moment, I'm going to do the same thing, only with songs that Eric Cartman has sung. And in an attempt to decide, "who did it better?" I've also included links to the scene where it happens. Some you get the actual video, some you get a weird 4 panel video of the exact same thing for some reason, some you just get to see Cartman and just have to listen. But I managed to source all 5... So there's that...
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Enjoy!
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.
Come Sail Away - STYX
This is a great song that features a really great build up. Much like Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" I feel like a lot of people listen to this song, really wanting to get to the part that really rocks out. But you have to be patient. You have to let it rise, and stay with the nice, slow, methodical piano, and the... soothing? voice of Dennis Deyoung. But when you finally get to that part where you get that sweet guitar, you're so happy with the payoff and you can't help but feel like you've accomplished something that day. Or something like that.
Anyway, if you don't want to wait, you can always take the Cartman route...
My Baby Takes The Morning Train - Sheena Easton
Okay. So full disclaimer, whenever I hear this song, I don't necessarily think about Cartman singing it on his Big Wheel, though I always know it's the song he sings while he's Big Wheeling through the Colorado Rockies. No no, I always think about Kramer at his corporate job... (1:11 if you want to see the song montage. Or you could just start from the beginning of the clip because it's awesome.)
This song is just so lighthearted and tends to get stuck in my head anytime I ride the train in Calgary. Or really, anytime I'm off to do some work that is unusual for me. Sheena Easton tends to infiltrate my subconscious more than I actually would expect. And you know what? I'm okay with that!
Heat Of The Moment - Asia
Another song I don't *necessarily* equate strictly with South Park. When I hear this song, it's equal parts Cartman singing it in session at Congress and equal parts Steve Carrell chasing Catherine Keener on his mountain bike (and then crashing through a billboard. It happens right at the end. Totally worth watching the whole clip for.)
Of all the songs on this list this week, this is probably my favourite. Though there are definitely some contenders. Sung by Asia, in an era where naming your band after locations seemed to be "the thing" to do, it's about the only song of theirs I really know. But man, is it ever good. I'm listening to it in my office and I'm getting shivers. That could be the air conditioning, and the fact that I'm wearing shorts and flip flops. But I'm crediting Asia with this. Because let me tell you, Sheena Easton didn't give me those chills.
She Works Hard For The Money - Donna Summer
Sorry I don't have more than just the sound clip for this one. But it comes from the episode where Cartman auditions to be in a Cheesy Poofs commercial.
I'm also fairly certain this song used to be used in some commercial when I was growing up but I can't recall which one off-hand. I just remember hearing it as I was watching TV as a kid. To be perfectly honest, I don't know I've ever heard this song on the radio, only as fodder for auditions or as advertising music.
Huh. Anyway, it's here now!
Faith - George Michael
Okay, so this song might be my favourite of the ones this week. It's also so damned good. I'm still a ways away from hearing Eric sing it, as I'm only in season six and this episode comes out in season 14, but it doesn't matter. It's still great and here it is.
Do you remember when Limp Bizkit covered this song? When I first heard it, I was jazzed because I loved the original and I thought, how cool that a modern band covered that song I like so much! I think the only reason I really liked that version is because I seldom was able to hear the original and at least this way I could get some access to a great song. But with the advent of MP3s, Napster, iTunes and YouTube, me having to listen to a shitty Fred Durst version is long gone. But in case you wanted to hear it, here it is. (What the eff was I thinking liking this? Jeebus.)
On a final note: who the f*** is Sza? Ads for her new album kept popping up as ads before the songs I really wanted to listen to. Why can't pop stars have normal names? And what's wrong with using a few vowels? Ugh. I'm getting old and curmudgeonly.
If you want to listen to it, the June playlist is now up at Apple Music. Note, something new we're trying is now the June playlist is also avaliable on Spotify so if you'd rather go there... do it!
Here are the rest of the playlists that aren't available on Spotify.
Throwback Playlist for Dec 16/Jan 17
October 2016 Throwback Playlist,
September 2016 Throwback Playlist
-D (@davidronn)