Time Cannot Age Thee...
Posted by Rob Fitzpatrick on 19 December 2007 - 1:52pm.
Someone's iPod is playing in the office. Jame's Brown's Sex Machine just popped up (as it were). I have heard this record hundreds of times over the years, yet there wasn't a single second of it that wasn't still utterly thrilling. This happened with She Loves You recently too. What other pop moments cannot be spoilt, no matter how many times you hear them?
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Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
Ah, my favourite subject.
The key factor here is that the tune came on. You didn't put it on. It's because you're emotionally ready for that tune but you are not aware of the fact that makes this, at the risk of sounding like a Radio Two documentary, A Perfect Pop Moment.
Julie Burchill wrote years ago that "nothing hurts the young heart run free like a favourite song coming unbidden on the radio". It's the fact that you're not quite ready that makes it such a bittersweet moment.
I get it mainly nowadays from old, unmarked mix CDs that I've left in the car. I stick them in the player and I can guarantee that halfway through there'll be something that nearly brings tears to my eyes.
Shuffletastic
Precisely the reason that the shuffle setting on my iPod gets so much use. The same can be true of favourite films, although it takes longer. I've seen The Godfather far too many times to sit down and watch it, but if I stumble across it while channel hopping, I'm usually hooked. I had to draw the line at Part II on Sky the other night. It was just starting and it was about 11pm.
Anyway, to return to the subject in hand: Like A Rolling Stone, Born To Run, Oh Boy and Heartbreak Hotel are four of hundreds that sound perfect when you're not ready for them.
Timeless Melody...
I probably hear 'There She Goes' by the La's at least three times a week - it's simply unavoidable if you live in Liverpool but I will never ever get tired of that opening riff.
Have to agree
Popped up on my creative zen shuffle the other day and had me happily nodding along on the tram. Quality.
Why Lee Mavers turned his back on the music business
If you ever wondered why Lee Mavers turned his back on the music business, have a look at this clip. Not sure who to feel more sorry for, the poor girl trying to interview two snotty scallies, or Lee and John having to try and explain themselves to someone who thinks they're saying "ritzy" when they're saying "rootsy". Lee's body language oozes contempt throughout. My favourite moment is at 2.21 when Lee, under his breath, repeats some gormless question the girl has asked.
Great version of Timeless Melody though.
I thought the reason was...
I thought the reason why Lee Mavers turned his back on the music business was because he earned a six figure salary per annum from There She Goes? And having seen that excellent clip (thank you) it's hardly surprising.
Not sure it's six figures
Not sure it's six figures, but certainly enough to bring up four kids in relative comfort and not have to scrimp and save for the Everton season ticket.
Write one classic song to earn meal ticket for life. Bow out of the whole barmy caper. That's the way to do it. Hats off to Lee.
I'll have a slice of...
Ike & Tina's River Deep, Mountain High, The Beatles' I Feel Fine, and Springsteen's Thunder Road.
And a couple of more recent ones: The Go! Team's Bottle Rocket, and Girls Aloud's Graffiti My Soul (don't laugh till you've tried it :-p)
Bottle Rocket
Yes, totally agree with The Go! Team's Bottle Rocket. Two years ago to the week I was in New York for the first time. This song came on my i-pod in shuffle mode and just seemed so right. The hustle and bustle of the track just seemed to echo the multi-ethnic streets around me. Great track, great day. All together now "2-4-6-8-10"............
Rock of Ages
I suppose it comes down to the records you consider to be perfect - those you're delighted to hear whatever the circumstance. Wichita Lineman springs to mind, as does Air's All I Need and (much more obscurely) I Blood Brother Be by Shock Headed Peters. But that's almost certainly just me.
Shock Headed Peters!
But in what circumstances do you get to hear the Shock Headed Peters, other than specifically deciding to play it - can't imagine you hear them by chance very often. I haven't heard that song since about 1988 (although now I feel the urge to hear it right now). Did Danielle Dax ever sing with them? Or was that the Lemon Kittens, who had some sort of connection to the Peters?
Shocking
I only hear it occasionally, when my iPod's in shuffle mode. I have two different versions, and I'm enthralled each time one of them pops up. It's such an extraordinary record.
I think Danielle Dax was a Lemon Kitten prior to her solo stuff - but I don't know about a connection to Shock Headed Peters, although it was certainly the same era. Lemon Kittens 12" singles used to sell for a fortune when I worked in a second-hand record shop.
as released on El
one of my most favourite labels of all time...
*whistles obscure Louis Philippe tune*
no seriously
Can I add "Strange kind of Love" by Cud
How about....
I Want You Back - Jackson Five
Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones
I still listen to James Brown "Sex Machine" when I'm driving...I wonder what the other Houston commuters think of me doing my best Godfather of Soul impression, as this 30ish Scotsman gyrates in his VW Golf...keeps me sane though
Be My Baby
Be My Baby by The Ronettes never fails to stop me in my tracks. Greatest pop single ever in my book and sounds awesome no matter how often you hear it.
have you heard Mutya's B Boy Baby?
Don't - you might cry out loud :(
but on the othe hand
mutyas song with Groove Armada of earlier this year is, for my money, destined to go down as a great 'pop' moment as well...it's got it ALL!
If life were only like that...
..."Be My Baby" would be starting every time you walk into a room. Like for Harvey Keitel in Mean Streets? Here he is:
Mutya Buena
Yeah, I've heard it and I really like it. It's just a different thing altogether. Mutya's ace.
Yes!
Agreed - long ago installed at the top of my list as best pop single ever. Makes the hairs etc.
Surely the first song any newly married couple shoudl dance to?
I couldn't be described as a fan...
....but every time I hear "Sit Down" by James my heart leaps.
Similar era
The same happens for me with Mary's Prayer by Danny Wilson. Have no idea why, but transports me every time.
Here are some that do it for me....
Steve Miller Band - The joker
Neil Young - After the goldrush
Leonard Cohen - So long Marianne
Elvis Costello - Scarlet Tide
Joni Mitchell - Free man in Paris
Paul Simon - late in the Evening
ditto - American tune
ditto - My little town
Rolling Stones Miss you
Sick Of Sex
Guess I would go for Aretha Franklin's "Respect", the piano intro gets me very time.
Although I have the upmost respect for the late James Brown, I am sick to death of hearing "Sex Machine",bloody sick of it, but it is a fantastic record.
Off the top of my head
Crazy - Gnarls Barclay
Crazy little thing called love - Queen
Green Onions - Booker T & the MGs
Fairytale of New York - The Pogues (yes, even in December)
Brown Sugar - Rolling Stones
Sweet Jane- Velvet Underground
None of them ever knowingly skipped on the train.
One can never tire of....
Another Girl, Another Planet
There She Goes
Tears of a Clown
Let's Get It On
Caroline, No
Thunder Road
Teenage Kicks (oh, especially Teenage Kicks)
Sweet Gene Vincent
She Does It Right
...amongst many, many more.
Jackson 5
The tragedy of Michael Jackson is that people forget how good he really was with his brothers or on his own, I'll be there,Ain't no sunshine,I want you back so many!
But my all time best ever....Making Plans for Nigel, tingle all over when I hear it.
Stone me
I am happy to hear any classic Stones single - Honky Tonk Women, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Satisfaction. Same goes for Bowie - Heroes, Ashes to Ashes, oh and Prince - When Doves Cry for example. How about The Jam - Eton Rifles, Town Called Malice. Then there's Abba - Winner Takes It All.
It's something elusive that you can't quite recall until you hear it again. Simple enough to be familiar yet with a subtle nuance or unexpected twist that surprises.
I must say some of you are picking tracks that aren't exactly played every day - not really doing it properly I feel.
Leon Jackson - I believe his single could be a contender surely?
with you on Heroes
always, always works, no matter how many times you've heard it
There are probably many but...
The Boy with the Arab Strap by Belle & Sebastian always does it for me.
And the Welsh national anthem.
The Wild Ones...
...by Suede. That jinkety, thin guitar and then old Bert swoops in singing, 'There's a song playing on the radio...' Particularly powerful if it actually is playing on the radio.
Couldn't agree more with Pete Kavanagh on 'Green Onions' - it transcends everything - and while we're in that part of the world, unexpectedly hearing the intro to 'Dock of the Bay' always seems to coincide with me getting something in my eye.
see also
Abraham, Martin & John...
Time cannot age them..
I remember years ago that a lady was asked for her favourite song on Radio 1 and she gave Joan Armatrading's "love and Affection" as her choice.She said that she loved the song so much that she didn't own a copy,but prefered to wait for it to appear on any normal radio schedule and just WALLOW in the song.
In todays' youtube/myspace era where every song and vid is literally a fingertip away...I admire her discipline.Me? I'm on the floor EVERYTIME I here "Going Underground"!!!
Time cannot age them
Definitely agree with the La's there she goes. What about the Stones' 'Paint it Black' - can you imagine any band today coming up with something so dramatic and full-on ? My own insane love for Sparks means No 1 song in Heaven will always live on, just as fab as when I first heard it as a 13 year old. Some of the 60s ballads like The Sun ain't gonna shine any more and You've lost that loving feeling still sound great.
Perfect Pop Moment
MacArthur Park - the Richard Harris version. I've listened to it countless times and it still thrills me to this day.I bought it 1967 for 6/8 mainly because I would get such good value - 7 and a half minutes for a third of a pound. The "B side", Paper Chase, is the dog's bollocks as well
Lazy Line Painter Jane...
by Belle & Sebastian is basically Dead Ringer For Love, for indie milksops - A male/female duet that sounds like it's being belted out karaoke-style by Stuart Murdoch and ex-Thrum vocalist Monica Queen.
I love the Dwayne Eddy twang in the guitar and the way that Stuart sounds almost lascivious as he solemnly deadpans: "You will have a boy tonight, you will have a boy tonight."
Best of all is the extended coda, in which the grating ice-rink organ, that has been swirling away quietly in the background, gradually rises to the front of the mix.
John Peel
Something that reminds of when I first fell in love with music listening to John Peel; Shot By Both Side by Magazine, 'A' Bomb In Wardour Street by The Jam or Teenage Kicks by the Undertones. Failing that it would be Rock 'n Roll by Led Zeppelin or Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen.
China Girl
China Girl does it for me, it's the tightness of the rhythm section as it pounds along. Brilliant.
I have to agree...
...that "There She Goes" is a perfect song that I never tire of hearing. I would have to add to that list..."Shine On" by The House Of Love and If I Can't Change Your Mind by Sugar and rather perversely "Buffalo" by Stump. The first time heard it I felt rather nauseous but now I can't get enough of it..."How much is the fish?"
Buffalo! Inspired!!
"Does the fish have chips?"
Mowtown works for me
... especially Needle In A Haystack by The Velvelettes. Also, and whilst on this music style (and a chance to trot our a favourite joke)...
How do you turn a duck into a soul singer? Put it on a hotplate until its Bill Withers.
And the track? well it's 'Who Is He, And What Is He To You'
5 star corkers!
XTC - major of simpleton
Elvis Costello - i've been wrong before
Van Morrison - in the garden
Elton John - mona lisas and mad hatters
Pink Floyd - us and them
Joni Mitchell - amelia
Elvis Presley - pocketful of rainbows
Bizarre Radio Playlist....
Our local station, Essex FM....a true "Fab FM" hive of MOR - chart rubbish...then yesterday morning, completely out of the blue, up pops Van the Man's Gloria....! Made my heart leap and the kids in the back wonder what the hell Daddy was singing along to!
Just at this time of year
I've still never gotten tired of hearing Wizzard's "I wish it could be Christmas everyday". Even the kids at the end. Must be 35 years now. Not bad for a novelty record.