Scotch Sampler
- Thread starter scotchandcigar
- Start date
Then there was the time the same guy mailed a dildo to a coworker named Juan Valdes (sounds like the coffee guy), but it went to a female employee instead. There was a big HR meeting about that!Next stop, restraining order!
It’s too bad you don’t have the kind of a job that might require people to take a drug test......or a psych exam.
Now playing: Part 2, artist 2, for frontwomen who went solo. One of my very favorite artists - Aimee Mann, formerly of 'Til Tuesday. Like Patty Smyth, her first solo release had only minor success. 1993's Whatever had one charting song, I Should Have Known.
But it was 1995's I'm With Stupid that made the Billboard Hot 100, and became one of my top 10 albums, ever. Mann's fantastically cultured voice, her lyrics, and the arrangements are captivating. Song after song, the album creates strong emotions. Whenever I'm really down, this is what I need to listen to.
Excuse me if I go a little deep into this. (Being that this was the year I got divorced, and also spent a lot of time going to live concerts, might have something to do with the emotions it gives me). The album starts with a groove, and one of those "you wronged me" songs, complete with a count-off: "5, 6, 7, 50"
Aimee Mann – Long Shot
It's followed by one of the album's hit songs
Aimee Mann – Choice in the Matter (live)
And yes, the next song is great too, and grungy
Aimee Mann – Sugar Coated (live)
I just can't stop posting every track. This ballad made it onto the soundtrack to the movie Cruel Intentions. Aimee is backed-up by none other than Boston's own Juliana Hatfield
Aimee Mann – You Could Make a Killing
A beautiful song about lost love with an old-timey sound, also backed by Hatfield
Aimee Mann - Amateur
But it was 1995's I'm With Stupid that made the Billboard Hot 100, and became one of my top 10 albums, ever. Mann's fantastically cultured voice, her lyrics, and the arrangements are captivating. Song after song, the album creates strong emotions. Whenever I'm really down, this is what I need to listen to.
Excuse me if I go a little deep into this. (Being that this was the year I got divorced, and also spent a lot of time going to live concerts, might have something to do with the emotions it gives me). The album starts with a groove, and one of those "you wronged me" songs, complete with a count-off: "5, 6, 7, 50"
Aimee Mann – Long Shot
It's followed by one of the album's hit songs
Aimee Mann – Choice in the Matter (live)
And yes, the next song is great too, and grungy
Aimee Mann – Sugar Coated (live)
I just can't stop posting every track. This ballad made it onto the soundtrack to the movie Cruel Intentions. Aimee is backed-up by none other than Boston's own Juliana Hatfield
Aimee Mann – You Could Make a Killing
A beautiful song about lost love with an old-timey sound, also backed by Hatfield
Aimee Mann - Amateur
OK, so this is my equivalent to Hurt by Nine Inch Nails. It's a song one plays when you've hit rock bottom, as if contemplating overdosing on heroin
Aimee Mann – Par for the Course
This was the biggest hit from the album, and also appeared on the Melrose Place soundtrack. The backing vocals are by none other than Difford and Tilbrook from Squeeze
Aimee Mann – That’s Just What You Are
The album ends with this song, backed by Difford, Tilbrook, and Michael Penn (her husband), who also does the guitar solo
Aimee Mann – It’s Not Safe
There are at least 4 other great songs that I'm leaving out of this list.
There was a long hiatus before her next album - Bachelor No. 2 - was released in 2000. It sold well, but didn't contain any hit songs. However, it had a rerelease of the hit song Save Me, from the 1999 Magnolia soundtrack
Aimee Mann – Save Me (live)
Aimee Mann – Par for the Course
This was the biggest hit from the album, and also appeared on the Melrose Place soundtrack. The backing vocals are by none other than Difford and Tilbrook from Squeeze
Aimee Mann – That’s Just What You Are
The album ends with this song, backed by Difford, Tilbrook, and Michael Penn (her husband), who also does the guitar solo
Aimee Mann – It’s Not Safe
There are at least 4 other great songs that I'm leaving out of this list.
There was a long hiatus before her next album - Bachelor No. 2 - was released in 2000. It sold well, but didn't contain any hit songs. However, it had a rerelease of the hit song Save Me, from the 1999 Magnolia soundtrack
Aimee Mann – Save Me (live)
I wrote an artist bio for Aimee (and Til Tuesday separately) on Genius and enjoyed learning more about her.
The way you rave about I'm With Stupid, I'll have to listen to it start to finish the next time I have a long solo car ride. Curiosity piqued.
I've been meaning to do the same thing with her 2017 album Mental Illness. I love two songs on there, "Goose Snow Cone" and "Patient Zero", and want to hear the rest.
The way you rave about I'm With Stupid, I'll have to listen to it start to finish the next time I have a long solo car ride. Curiosity piqued.
I've been meaning to do the same thing with her 2017 album Mental Illness. I love two songs on there, "Goose Snow Cone" and "Patient Zero", and want to hear the rest.
Yeah, she does have more recent stuff that I may cover later. As far as I'm With Stupid, it got her on all the late night shows, and there's a fervent group of fans who think it's just stellar (like me). There are songs on there that make me tear-up whenever I hear them; and also songs that have really cool rhythms, guitar lines, keyboard parts, harmonies, and even a bass harmonica. But I can imagine someone listening for the first time thinking "meh". That's the way music is.
You obviously have a big emotional attachment to Indigo Girls, whereas I regard them as music for middle-aged Subaru-driving lesbians. Everyone's experience is different.
Actually my cousin opened a bar years ago and I gave him some music to fit the vibe I thought he was going for. Mazzy Star was one. I forget the rest, except Indigo Girls was in there. He said within minutes of putting it in, people started barking about lesbian this and that so he had to take it out.
Right now, you're probably saying "enough with the rock chicks, let's get back to the grunge!"
Screaming Trees was one of the founding bands of the Seattle area scene, but it took them several albums (and some help from Nirvana) to get national attention. Their 5th album, Uncle Anesthesia, produced the first song (Bed of Roses) that got radio airplay. But it was their 6th album, 1992's Sweet Oblivion, that launched the Mark Lanegan fronted band into the spotlight. The album is full of perfect grunge: searing guitar riffs, rocking rhythms, and the unique, intoxicating voice of their lead singer.
Here's the album's opening track
Screaming Trees – Shadow of the Season
This was their big top-10 rock chart hit
Screaming Trees – Nearly Lost You (live on Letterman)
The other hit song from the album
Screaming Trees – Dollar Bill (live)
More great songs from the album
Screaming Trees – Butterfly
Screaming Trees – The Secret Kind
Lanegan went on to put out solo albums, become a member of Mad Season, and eventually collaborate on the follow-up Trees album Dust, which was a minor hit. They were done in '96.
Screaming Trees was one of the founding bands of the Seattle area scene, but it took them several albums (and some help from Nirvana) to get national attention. Their 5th album, Uncle Anesthesia, produced the first song (Bed of Roses) that got radio airplay. But it was their 6th album, 1992's Sweet Oblivion, that launched the Mark Lanegan fronted band into the spotlight. The album is full of perfect grunge: searing guitar riffs, rocking rhythms, and the unique, intoxicating voice of their lead singer.
Here's the album's opening track
Screaming Trees – Shadow of the Season
This was their big top-10 rock chart hit
Screaming Trees – Nearly Lost You (live on Letterman)
The other hit song from the album
Screaming Trees – Dollar Bill (live)
More great songs from the album
Screaming Trees – Butterfly
Screaming Trees – The Secret Kind
Lanegan went on to put out solo albums, become a member of Mad Season, and eventually collaborate on the follow-up Trees album Dust, which was a minor hit. They were done in '96.
Sometimes there is more than unrest in the forest. I could hear more trees screaming.
It's too bad they stopped in 96.
It's too bad they stopped in 96.
And now, for something completely different; the wonderful, talented, and Canadian Sarah McLachlan. Easily one of the most perfect voices in contemporary music. She's an artist who'd make any list of performers that sound better live than the studio recordings.
Her first album - Touch - was released in 1988, but it was her 2nd release, 91's Solace that launched her career. It included Drawn to the Rhythm and this hit song (BTW, she has an uncanny resemblance to Lorde here)
Sarah McLachlan – Into the Fire (live on Letterman)
But it was Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, released in '93, that made her a superstar. With at least a half-dozen radio hits, it started my run of buying consecutive albums from her. And as a bonus, she recorded an acoustic version of the album, released the following year as The Freedom Sessions. Aside from getting alternate renditions of the songs, it's one of the best sounding recordings out there.
In addition to hits like Hold On, Mary, and Elsewhere, these are favorites of mine
Sarah McLachlan – Possession (Afterglow Live, alternate intro)
She even speaks real Canadian here
Sarah McLachlan – Good Enough (live)
Sarah McLachlan – Plenty (Freedom Sessions)
Sarah McLachlan – Ice Cream (Freedom Sessions)
Her first album - Touch - was released in 1988, but it was her 2nd release, 91's Solace that launched her career. It included Drawn to the Rhythm and this hit song (BTW, she has an uncanny resemblance to Lorde here)
Sarah McLachlan – Into the Fire (live on Letterman)
But it was Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, released in '93, that made her a superstar. With at least a half-dozen radio hits, it started my run of buying consecutive albums from her. And as a bonus, she recorded an acoustic version of the album, released the following year as The Freedom Sessions. Aside from getting alternate renditions of the songs, it's one of the best sounding recordings out there.
In addition to hits like Hold On, Mary, and Elsewhere, these are favorites of mine
Sarah McLachlan – Possession (Afterglow Live, alternate intro)
She even speaks real Canadian here
Sarah McLachlan – Good Enough (live)
Sarah McLachlan – Plenty (Freedom Sessions)
Sarah McLachlan – Ice Cream (Freedom Sessions)