Who Knew?

In the coolest piece of musical trivia I have heard in years, I now know where Lieutenant Lush ended up.

For some context, Malcolm McLaren, the mind behind the Sex Pistols, Adam Ant, (Vicious),and a host of punk and post punk music efforts, 'discovered' a 14 year old singer at a dry cleaners in London.

Convinced youth and energy were at the heart of rock n' roll, McLaren launched the band, called Bow Wow Wow. The album and tour had a pretty fluid song list, yet backed into the Top 50 on US charts with "I Want Candy", a cover song.

The original lineup of Bow Wow Wow had another singer: Lieutenant Lush, whose presence was seen as too distracting from the 14 year old phenom Annabella Lwin.

Hustled out of the band as they broke out, Lt. Lush went on to form a band who went on to sell far more records than Bow ever hoped to.

That Lieutenant became Boy George, of Culture Club.

Definitive

Some songs are written and sung, only to be far better known by a cover version.

Written in 1930 by a man whose life was far too brief, 'Blue Yodel #8' was a hit in 1939, and sung by everyone from Merle Haggard & Woodie Guthrie, to Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.

But this one single version has defined how every artist has approached it since the it was recorded.

There's a reason why Porter grabbed on to this lady, and didn't let go until the police were called.

Beuatiful Werld

For the men who brought you Target's ad campaign, Mothersbaugh sold this dark song for lots.

I don't believe Target knew what they were buying. Like good pop, it can speak about abject poverty, and sell you a nice pair of slacks in the same moment.

And at their height, Devo created one of the best videos ever made.

Who Knew?

Sting, when Sting was cool, wore an English Beat shirt in this video, and in debt to those pioneers who gave him sound.

Even Summers and Copeland mattered...

Another piece of nostaliga...

Pete Shelley and his band are regarded as giants of the oeuvre, and darn fine songwriters at that.

One of the best rock songs ever written stands out. The guitars work off of each other late in the song, but fill the mitre with lyrical precision. The bass is killer, and the drum's simplicity is seminal.

Shelley later went on to pen tunes that were really good. While the video appears to come from the same guy who did the first 100 videos ever made (and Shelley is pretty clear about which side his bread is buttered on), the song is solid enough to stand alone.

And another

The timing is awful, the smoke machine dumb, and the disco thump is...a disco thump. Despite the confused singer surrounded by the worst of the '80's, watch around the 1 minute mark.

Desmond finds his stride - and comes around to say exactly who owns this song.

He kills it from there. By the time the crappy graphic is revealed - look out. Desmond straightens up, and makes the smoke machine his bitch. It's a transformation. While the video doesn't get any better, the music speaks for itself.

Now that you've seen what British pop shows can do to a great song - go buy the original - and support one of the best ska artists ever to record an album.

"...a patois-sung opening line that entranced and confused pop listeners on both sides of the Atlantic."

Can anyone say how many people Lennon and McCartney wrote into one of their songs?

My guess is not too many. They took a pass on Dylan after all...

Lucky Enough

I saw this band with Mel a few years ago. It was an amazing show, and a band I've been a fan of for a long time.

I had always hoped I could see this outfit, never did work out.

But on a different topic, I did see the Go-Go's in 1983 play at the Stampede Corral. While not sure how I got there, the show was really good, the crowd enthused, and I came away with an appreciation for a band that's upside down: they're critically acclaimed, but despised by listeners.

This video makes Ultravox look manly, but the sound is crisp, and the song is a great slice of pop.

A year later, Belinda went to rehab, and started walking the path of the Michael Jackson Life of Stardom. Yet, I think she did as much to define the '80s as Madonna, with a song written by the band mentioned earlier - the one I haven't seen.

But, what about Jane? She swam with the dolphins and by osmosis, wrote not one song, but two for Carlene Carter eight years later. Mmm, Jane...

Like anthropologists & the gap in evolution, I am convinced there is a link to Motown, I'm still looking.

Vacation is so cool.

and light

Peter Tosh was never given the credit he deserved for his contribution to the Wailers, nor a solo career that possesses a Led Zeppelin like status of the reggae world.

Or credit for a song that transcends decades.

His online legacy is small - only a handful of his songs can be found on youtube, their quality awful. Compare the same to Luciano, Aswan, and one 'Bob Marley', where you'll find every bodily function not only photographed, but journaled and categorized.

Tosh's sin was to say Marley's success came from the fact his father was white. Translation: He got a free ride.

From there, it gets stranger. But information on him is - unlike his peers - hard to find.

Cool guitar...

Sweet and Dandy

It is no wonder this man was called more important and more talented than Bob Marley by critic Lester Bangs.

Bangs was a guy written into songs by artists no less than the Buzzcocks, The Ramones, R.E.M., and The Clash.

It is no wonder that the sounds still sounds today.

If you're still reading, try this. If you're feet don't move to it, you are clinically dead. Honest. The falsetto is dynamite.

And it's a glimpse at a picture well worth watching.