Throwback Tracks -- April 26, 2015
David R. Smith
Another day, another selection of killer tunes to listen to. The start of this week's list comes to you thanks to my swimming laps in the pool. I know this isn't the first time I've been struck with inspiration this way, and it likely won't be the last. Sometimes you just hear good tunes when exercising and just need to share them with the world. And that's what we're doing today.
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.
Remote Control - Age of Electric
Apparently the theme for the first 3 songs of this list is "Canada." Not necessarily on purpose; it just sort of worked out that way. Songs get stuck in your head, and all...
Apparently Age of Electric have been around (off and on) for about 30 years. Which is weird because this is basically the only song of theirs I know. That said; I do love this song.
The members of the band have also gone on to work with other bands, such as Static in Stereo, and The New Pornographers. So it's not like they went on to do nothing else, as I definitely remember those two bands from when I was younger too.
This song gained a lot of notoriety in Canada because of its addition on Big Shiny Tunes 2 (arguably the best BST.) Sandwiched right in between Radiohead's Paranoid Android and STP's Lady Picture Show, this song was the second last track on the CD and really helped drive the album home. Plus, there's math related lyrics. Who doesn't love math in their songs?
The most interesting part about this band? They opened for:
One Man Army - Our Lady Peace
That's right! In 1998, Age of Electric opened for arguably the biggest act in Canada as they were coming off their mammoth sophomore album, Clumsy.
Happiness is Not a Fish You Can Catch was OLP's followup to Clumsy, and though it did not fare as well (really, how could it? Clumsy was huge) it still garnered some decent success. Part of it was because of this song. It didn't hurt that the video was pretty cool too.
After this album, Our Lady Peace kind of went through some growing pains and took a while to rediscover their sound. But they landed on their feet as well as a band can. They have since produced a handful of new albums, have put out some killer songs and even got to open for GnR on (at least) the Canadian portion of their tour. So that's cool!
Hand In My Pocket - Alanis Morissette
Full disclosure: I'm lukewarm on Alanis. Sometimes I can really dig her stuff, sometimes I can't. I use a product called "Don't Rain On My Parade" and anytime I see the label, I start singing the product name but to the tune of "It's like rain on your wedding day" and then Ironic gets stuck in my head. Which is annoying.
All that said; it's hard not to include somebody from Canada who was massively popular.
She got her start on Nickelodeon's You Can't Do That On Television and it was bad. Oh so bad. If you don't believe me, watch here. After that, I guess she tried to get into songwriting. Lucky for her she did, as she catapulted to fame and Jagged Little Pill became and international sensation.
Alanis' acting didn't stop there, though. She did end up getting a spot in Kevin Smith's Dogma. (Massive spoilers to the end of the movie if you haven't seen it.)
Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress - The Hollies
I've talked about the Hollies before on here, so there's not much I need to say about them. What I will say is that this is probably their hardest rocking song.
It's got a dirty garage band feel to it, all the while, kicking massive ass. The lyrics are cool, the arrangements are cool. It's just a cool, cool song.
Oye Como Va - Santana
Santana's first feature on TBT! The only time they've ever been mentioned is when I talked about them in the context of "Bands whose name is not the last name of the lead singer."
In this case it makes sense. They have a myriad of vocalists (Santana does some as well) but the biggest allure to this band is the guitar playing. The guy is a phenom. I saw him a couple years ago at the Saddledome and watching what he was capable of was awe inspiring.
This song is a pretty decent indicator of what they sound like. I mean, really, it's rock and roll meets latin music. What do you expect besides terrific beats and wonderful musicianship?
Blah blah blah, Dave hasn't gotten around to it. Same old thing today. It's just the way of the world! I seem to have time through the week, but forget to actually put it to this. So once again, I'm too late. Life is weird like that.
On the upside, nobody seems to have been getting upset about it, so it makes you wonder if it's all for naught. Either way, I'll try to get to it soon.
2018
January 2018 TBT Playlist (or the January 2018 Spotify)
2017
December 2017 TBT Playlist (or the December 2017 Spotify), November 2017 TBT Playlist (and the November 2017 Spotify), 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)