Car Groups

I was listening to the Cars today - a solid 2 disc anthology called, appropriately, You're Just What I Needed. I got to thinking about bands named after cars, and a few fifties groups roared into mind - the Cadillacs, the Impalas, the Continentals, the Imperials, and the Eldorados. There've been a couple of bands that called themselves the Stingrays, and then there's the Fabulous Thunderbirds and the Fairlanes, to name a few (The Beatles don't count).

I don't think that theme is still current, though. When The Cars took that name, it was kind of a post-modern take on the whole auto-infatuation thing (with intentional retro references, like the Vargas girl cover art). But there's no reason why there couldn't be a bouncy pop band called The Beamers, or a classic guitar rock quartet called The Four By Fours, or a sexy girl group called The Hummers or a doo-wop cover group called The Infinitis or a socially conscious neo-folk group called The Priuses...just a thought.

The Cars hold up really well, by the way (a tip of the hat to Ric Ocasek and Ben Orr) - but then I was always partial to New Wave (not "New Age" - totally different head, man, totally - as Johnny Slash would say). I liked the music that came out of bands like the Cars, Blondie, the Waitresses, Squeeze, the Pretenders, the Specials, the Talking Heads, and the Police - even Gary Numan. The Cars offer tight beats under well-crafted pop melodies, clever songs sung in a highly stylized timbre, and swooping synths all over the place. Songs like "My Best Friends Girl" and "You're All I've Got Tonight" and "You Might Think" can still get my happy feet tapping. New Wave was a loop out and back to the mainstream, and maybe ultimately a musical cul de sac (irony can just get you so far before it turns into ennui), but it was fun while it lasted, and it's a cool place to revisit.

Pop Tart

Hey there! Been a while since I posted anything, and it’s certainly not that I haven’t been listening to lots of different music. But this posting isn’t about Los Super Seven’s Heard It On The X (a great recollection of a Tex-Mex border AM station), and it’s not about the seminal 1920’s jazz sounds of Fletcher Henderson or Luis Russell, and it’s not about the V-Disc collection, Louis Prima: The War Years (even though “Felicia no Capecia” definitely deserves to be mentioned), and it’s not even about Paul Simon’s new release, Surprise, which is a pleasant but not earthshaking one. It’s about 70’s pop.

Today I spent my ear-time with Three Dog Night (“Best of”) and ABBA (“Gold”), two pop group masters of their era – and no scoffing. Sure, I know that pop is the perky cousin of slouchy rock; the bowl of sugary peanuts to rock’s beer and a shot; the smiley face to rock’s raised middle finger. But sometimes it’s just plain fun, and when good musicians do it, it’s better than that.

Yes, I said good musicians (and good producers). Three Dog Night was primarily a cover band, and their tastes are far beyond the Archies or the New Christy Minstrels. They covered people like Randy Newman (“Momma Told Me Not To Come”) and Laura Nyro (“Eli’s Comin’”) and Harry Nilsson (“One”) and Hoyt Axton (“Joy To The World” – although there was a time I would have happily sautéed Jeremiah’s legs in garlic and oil with a sprinkling of fresh parsley). These are not the common herd of writers, and the covers are excellent ones, catching the spirit of the songs in sparkly, harmonized pop settings. They work, and work well.

And then there’s ABBA, who was not a cover act. Their songs, primarily written by the two B’s (Bjorg and Benny), are great pop: terrific hooks, cleverly written lyrics (go ahead: challenge me) , solid harmonies – particularly the two A’s (Anni and Agnetha), and synthesizer-driven 70’s dance-style production. There’s not nearly as much discobeat as you might think, and songs like “Fernando” and “Waterloo” and “Take A Chance On Me” (jangling around my brain all afternoon) still catch you up and make you smile.

If you’re in the mood for indulging, the two sets mentioned above (Best of Three Dog Night (MCA, 1983) and ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits (Polygram, 1993) offer excellent overviews of the two groups. So go ahead – pour yourself a Harvey Wallbanger and just let the music happen.