Scotch Sampler

scotchandcigar said:
I was wondering if you had an opinion on their Cure cover.
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Never been a fan of it, actually. Usually I start off a bit skeptical of any cover of a song/artist I love first time hearing it anyway. So I always try to go back several times and listen again ... but I still don't get into this one. However, the 311 cover of "Lovesong", the Yo La Tengo cover of "Friday I'm In Love" and a handful of others grew on me after a couple listens.
 
While we're on the subject of Lou Barlow bands, although I covered Sebadoh's excellent 1994 album Bakesale, I missed their later hit, from '99.

Sebadoh – Flame



Also, now is a good time to throw in his big hit from '95 with Folk Implosion

Folk Implosion – Natural One
 
scotchandcigar said:
While we're on the subject of Lou Barlow bands, although I covered Sebadoh's excellent 1994 album Bakesale, I missed their later hit, from '99.

Sebadoh – Flame



Also, now is a good time to throw in his big hit from '95 with Folk Implosion

Folk Implosion – Natural One
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Love em.
 
I'm gonna change gears a bit, and take a turn onto Adult Contemporary Lane. There we'll see the incomparable Bonnie Raitt. She's a masterful singer, slide guitar player, and song interpreter. She had her first success way back in '77, with this soulful cover

Bonnie Raitt - Runaway (live)



After that, she had some minor hits here and there. But it wasn't until '89 that she became a household name, when she released the 5x platinum Nick of Time. Hits included the title track, Have a Heart, and this John Hiatt tune

Bonnie Raitt - Thing Called Love (live on Leno)



She followed that in '91 with the 7x platinum Luck of the Draw, with Not the Only One, and these hits

Bonnie Raitt – Something to Talk About (live)



This may be the sappiest torch song I've featured. But it's heartbreakingly meaningful, and was one of my go-to audiophile test tracks

Bonnie Raitt (with Bruce Hornsby) – I Can’t Make You Love Me (live)



Her next album gave us this hit in 1994

Bonnie Raitt – Love Sneakin’ Up On You (live)



Then in '95, she covered You Got It for the Boys on the Side soundtrack, and had a hit with One Belief Away in '98. I've seen her live a couple of times; she's a great performer.
 
While you're strolling down the aforementioned lane, on your way to see Bonnie Raitt, you'll pass a honky-tonk back alley, and that's where Lucinda Williams is. Her first hit was back in '89, with the ballad Passionate Kisses, along with the rough-and-tumble Changed the Locks.

But I (along with many others) took notice in 1998, when she released the album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. This funky bluegrass hit got widespread airplay

Lucinda Williams – Can’t Let Go (live)



Another hit from the album was the title track

Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road



And this one made the late night shows

Lucinda Williams – Right in Time (live on Letterman)



In 2001, the title track from Essence charted well, and then this song became an AC radio staple in 2003

Lucinda Williams – Righteously (live audio)



A number of years ago, I saw her when she opened for Sheryl Crow, and she was good.
 
I have one of her songs from the "Sweet Releif" album which was a benefit to Victoria Williams who I assume is her mother. Song is "Main Roads". I think written by Victoria.
 
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Over the years, we've seen many groundbreaking female artists come along, the ones that seem to rewrite the rules. Like Fiona Apple, or Alanis Morrissette. You would have to include Sinead O'Connor in that list. In 1987, she had this breakout hit

Sinead O’Connor - Mandinka (live over backing track)



She peaked in 1990, with the double-platinum I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got. Her cover of Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U went #1 on all the charts (in case anyone's keeping track, she's an undeniably perfect OHW). And this was another hit

Sinead O’Connor - The Emperor’s New Clothes



She became a hot commodity. She had a voice that was in demand for collaborations with other artists. Here's a great example from 1991

Jah Wobble feat. Sinead O’Connor - Visions of You



In 1992, she went on SNL and made a big statement, live on TV, and sort-of ruined her career. Combined with other factors, she didn't go over well in the US for a long time. She did, however, collaborate with Shane MacGowan on the song Haunted in '95.

In 2000, she released Faith and Courage, and this song became my favorite of hers

Sinead O’Connor - No Man’s Woman (live on Letterman)



After that, she slowly slipped into insanity.
 
scotchandcigar said:
Sinead O'Connor
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For her main body of work, I've only been able to get into "Compares" and "Emperor's New Clothes".



But I also love the Peter Gabriel song she guested on "Blood Of Eden".



scotchandcigar said:
After that, she slowly slipped into insanity.
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That's for fkkn sure!! Spank her ass and call her Fruity loops <- her words, not mine

A canceled Saturday Night Live performance was followed by ripping a photo of the Pope in half on the show two years later.

She refused to allow the American National Anthem be sung before one of her concerts, leading to a local FM station banning her music and a senator calling for the boycotting of her shows.

A suicide attempt in 1999, three short-lived marriages between 2001-2012, and losing custody of her son left her in a deteriorated mental state that culminated in a 12-minute profanity-laced video on her Facebook page in 2017 where she talks about wanting to kill herself.

In 2018 she changed her name from Sinéad O'Connor to Magda Davitt, then to Shuhada Sadaqat, converted to Islam and tweeted: "What I’m about to say is something so racist I never thought my soul could ever feel it. But truly I never wanna spend time with white people again (if that’s what non-muslims are called). Not for one moment, for any reason. They are disgusting … If its ‘Crazy’ to care. Then by all means, spank my ass and call me Fruity loops."
 
Quick detour - I was reminded I left out the seminal punk rock band, the Stooges. If I can get on my soapbox for a minute, the idea that the Ramones are a pioneering punk rock band is both stupid and comical. The Ramones are a faux neo-punk band. I'm not saying they're bad - they're in my favorites list - but they are doing a tongue-in-cheek retro punk act. The real original punk band is the Stooges, with Iggy Pop.

Pat Carney (drummer for the Black Keys) has a show on SXM, where he pointed this out. And he played this very same live version of the 1970 Stooges song Loose. Even though it's not an original-era performance, Iggy is as nutty as ever.

The Stooges – Loose (live)



Their 1973 release was more popular (and their last), and generated this cleverly used track

Iggy and the Stooges – Search and Destroy (Apocalypse Now soundtrack)
 
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OK, back to our regularly scheduled program (for IRBS, that's programme). It's not hard to find a rock star who's destroyed themselves with drugs, but even with that low bar, few have gone lower than Shawn Ryder. Yet he was in a couple of great bands in the '90s. In 1990, his band the Happy Mondays released a platinum selling album, featuring the songs Kinky Afro, and this uber-funky tune

Happy Mondays - Step On



Then, in '95, he formed Black Grape, and won me over with the unlikely combo of rock, rap, and reggae. This was an epically strong album,
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and generated all these unique hits

Black Grape - Reverend Black Grape



Black Grape - In the Name of the Father



Black Grape - Kelly’s Heroes
 
I get what you're saying about the Ramones, they weren't the first punk band. But if you ask people to name a famous punk band, they will be the most common answer. I guess they're the guys that took punk more towards the mainstream?
 
Aaron said:
I get what you're saying about the Ramones, they weren't the first punk band. But if you ask people to name a famous punk band, they will be the most common answer. I guess they're the guys that took punk more towards the mainstream?
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I would agree with all that. I would expect, however, that people who are knowledgeable about music would separate them from The Clash and the Sex Pistols (and 100 other real punk bands).
 
scotchandcigar said:
the idea that the Ramones are a pioneering punk rock band is both stupid and comical
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I would never say it around one person I work with because I'd get shiv'd, but I don't get it either. I like some of their songs, but maybe it's one of those "you had to be there to understand" kinda things as to why people praise them so highly and give them labels like "pioneers"?
 
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