Mystery Solved...and Stashed

That tune. That tune! That tune has been knocking around in my head for so many years. I blogged about it back in 2011. I thought it was from a really old movie, or a novelty riff from Camper Van Beethoven, or something vaguely Eastern European. People close to me have heard me whistle it spontaneously now and again for the better part of two decades, and any time I've inquired with anyone about that sequence of notes, I've gotten nothing but shrugs and blank stares.

I once thought I was hot on the trail, when I came across
this 1932 composition by Jerzy Petersburski. There are some segments in this Polish tango reminiscent of the tune, but I knew when I found it, I was still shooting in the dark. Bonus: a fragment of this tango also reminds me of the “When the dog bites, when the bee stings” portion of My Favorite Things from the Sound of Music.

So, after years of this nagging sensation as to the origins of this melody, last weekend, it happened. I ended up in a somewhat random conversation about the band Phish with my niece, niece-in-law, and my two nephews. My nephew Jon,* was recommending a podcast called Analyze Phish. In it, comedian Harris Wittels, Phish Phan, tries to convince comedian Scott Aukerman, Phish naysayer, why he should love Phish. In a parallel, I went through a Phish phase (college in Santa Cruz in the '90s, natch), while Jon is the non-fan.

So I decided to jump on Spotify and put together some Phish songs that I thought might appeal to Jon, just for the hell of it. I played snippets of songs from albums I used to own, to refamiliarize myself with the music. While scrolling through the tracks on the 1992 album A Picture of Nectar, I made a totally unexpected discovery at two minutes and two seconds into the song "Stash:"


And the motif repeats itself at the end of the song, at minute 6:49, accompanying the lyrics "Maybe so, and maybe not."

Oh my fucking god!! The thrill of finding the source of this tune was visceral. It was like unwrapping my new Darth Vader Collector’s Case on Chanukah, 1982.** Or the satisfaction of writing one’s thousandth tweet. It was gleeful! I still can’t explain the very definite six-note intro to the song snippet that I always whistle, which is clearly not anywhere to be found in the Phish song. I don't know if I composed it unconsciously, or if it's an amalgam of some other melody. It’s no matter. I can rest on this one.

Artist: Phish
Year: 1992
Rating: Luke Hot

* Jon guest blogged for us at The Songs in My Head a few years ago. You can read those posts right here.
** I just learned that Google only returns 1.5 million results for “Chanukah,” my preferred transliteration for the Jewish Festival of Lights, and returns 15.7 million for “Hanukkah.” Am I spelling it wrong? Maybe so, and maybe not.

Workin' in the Coalmine/We Work the Black Seam

Straight-up random, as far as songs in my head go.

Artist: Devo
Year: 1981
Rating: Luke Hot

But then this song from Sting's first solo record came to me a couple days later, which seemed very much linked to "Workin' in the Coalmine."



It's less random to appear in my head, both because of the association with the previous song, and also because Dream of the Blue Turtles was one of the first albums I owned and listened to over and over again when I was a wee teen. Both songs' themes are timely, given the economic disparities they address. Virtual anthems for the current Occupy movement.

Artist: Sting
Year: 1985
Rating: Luke Hot

Josie

She's the raw flame, the live wire
She prays like a Roman with her eyes on fire

No band today could manage those lyrics in such a goddamned artful way.

Artist: Steely Dan
Year: 1977
Rating: Luke Hot

Note: I'm still not recovered from the fact that my good friends Marck and Emily did not name one of their twin girls Aja.

The Captain of Her Heart

Cheesy McCheese. Followed somehow from Arcade Fire's Sprawl II, which had been lingering in my head for several days until I employed the good old Mozart reset trick.

Artist: Double
Year: 1986
Rating: Cold (though the melody on the refrain is indeed catchy).

Savoy Truffle

Last night, I was proselytizing to an old friend about my new no-sugar eating regimen. The Beatles will always be there to bite me in the ass.

Artist: The Beatles
Year: 1968
Rating: Warm

So Into You/Superstition

This lost '70s mellow groove is in my head, 'cause I caught it on KFOG's Ten At Ten last night on my way home from San Jose.

Artist: Atlanta Rhythm Section
Year: 1977
Rating: Luke Hot



And this morning, the funky chord progression of the refrain of "So Into You" is leading me into Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." Here's a fantastic studio performance. Enjoy!

Artist: Stevie Wonder
Year: 1972
Rating: Hot!

Babylon Sisters, Redux

Last in my head on November 9, 2009

Artist: Steely Dan
Year: 1980
Rating: Warm

Lotta Love

You know I need relating, not solitude. Yep.

...and one of the rockinest flute solos to the light side of Jethro Tull.

Artist: Nicolette Larson
Year: 1978
Rating: Warm

Note: I didn't realize this was a Neil Young song! Wow! Now that I'm hearing it, the phrasing and octave change on the verses are distinctively so.

Another note: Sadly, Nicolette Larson died in 1997, at age 45, from liver failure. Rest in peace, NL.

Babylon Sisters

In my head in the wee hours this morning. An ode to illicit sex with multiple women. Good thing my illicit sex is actually licit.

For song interpretations, check out the chat on SongMeanings.

Artist: Steely Dan
Year: 1980
Rating: Warm

Moondance

Not sure why I can't find some video for this song - there are lots of covers out there, but not the original McCoy, so enjoy the last.fm track.

Lovely song to wake to. In my head.

You know, it's quite interesting/eerie to think that even if any of us were never to hear actual music again, we have lifetimes of songs stored in our memory, accessible at any moment we choose. So as long as we remain cognitively agile enough to recall them (a hope for us all!) we can simply supply our own individually-tailored soundtracks at any time, in any circumstance (a super-power I hope we're never forced to exercise). Van Morrison's a welcome addition to the mental play list.

Artist: Van Morrison
Year: 1970
Rating: Luke Hot

Note: I just learned that, though the album of the same name came out in 1970, Moondance wasn't released as a single til 1977. By today's hyper-marketing standards, that seems pretty weird, right?

Deacon Blues

Ever felt like the exquisite ruler of all things destined to fail?

They got a name for the winners in the world
I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues

So smooth, and yet, so steely.

Artist: Steely Dan
Year: 1977
Rating: Luke Hot

Back In Time

Back to the Future montage lovingly crafted by YouTube user Ramzilla.

By far not my favorite Huey Lewis song, but I think it's in my head this morning 'cause I've got so much paperwork to do to wrap up at the clinic that I need a DeLorean to take me back in time a couple weeks to get it all done. Anyone got a flux capacitor?

Artist: Huey Lewis & the News
Year: 1985
Rating: Lukewarm

Chicago is (barely) your kind of band, Chicago is

So, the official results of the Best Band Named after a Geographical Location poll are in, and let me just take this opportunity to thank everyone out there for participating and chiming in. In all, 41 folks voted, giving us the following scores:

1st Place: Chicago, with 12 votes

2nd Place: Berlin, with an achingly close 11 votes, after leading for almost the entire run of the poll.

3rd Place: a tie between Boston and America, with 6 votes a piece (America making a big jump from earlier in the contest.)

4th Place: Kansas, with 5 votes, and

5th Place: Asia, with one sad little vote.

Many discussants had lots of opinions about the showdown between Chicago and Berlin. Some think that Chicago is simply too commercial and schmaltzy to be the best representative of the Geo-Bands. Others argue that Berlin, while sophisticated and aesthetically hip, are musically inferior to the more diverse jazz-rock symphonics of Chicago. The controversy over this vote is expressed quite well by reader Michael D. of San Francisco, California. He states in a personal (but rather public) forum that:

Berlin may be style over skill, but oh what style! [On Chicago] Well-executed banality is still...banality.

I will agree with that sentiment to a certain point, as Berlin also suits my own aesthetic more than Chicago or any of the other bands in the poll (in fact, I almost didn't include Berlin because they were so very "one of these things is not like the others"). Nevertheless, it is hard to argue with the legacy of Chicago's discography. At 21 gold, platinum, and multi-platinum records, the band has very nearly as many RIAA-awarded albums as all the other bands in the poll combined. (Added up, Kansas, America, Boston, and Asia have 22 gold, platinum, and multi-platinum records. Guess how many Berlin has...that's right, zero.) We know that popular is not always best, but I think our readership made a sound choice with Chicago.

Anyway, enough of the rambles. Here are some of the choicest Chicago tunes just in case you need convincing (and yes, they've been in my head all day):

Arguably Chicago's very best song, certainly the most epic and addictive of their jazz rock catalog. Song: 25 or 6 to 4 Year: 1970 Rating: Hot! Oh, it's 1976, and Peter Cetera's hair shows it! This song oozes with pure '70s pop schmaltz, and that's why I love it so. Song: If You Leave Me Now Year: 1976 Rating: Luke Hot
A good song representative of their '80s oeuvre.

Song: Hard to Say I'm Sorry/Get Away
Year: 1982
Rating: Warm

Perfect Way by Scritti Politti/Digging Your Scene by the Blow Monkeys

Two songs have been entering consciousness the last few nights just as I hit the pillow in a melange of mid-eighties madness.

This one by Scritti Politti blends a rather sophisticated lyric which is by turns Lacanian and Derridean...

I don't have a purpose or mission
I'm empty by definition
I got a lack girl that you'd love to be

...into the most commercial, poppiest musical composition. Most of the song seems more a stream of consciousness, alliterative mish-mosh, but lyricist Green Gartside throws in the deconstructionist rhetoric whenever he gets a chance. Bully for him!

Year: 1985
Rating: Warm
Note: Do you like the anime? Couldn't find another video for it, but this is kinda fun!



This one by the Blow Monkeys (awful band name!) is cute, but way simpler (and whinier) lyrics

Tell me why is it I'm digging your scene
I know I'll die baby.

Year: 1986
Rating: Warm

The Geo-Rock Poll - Cast your vote!

Which band named after a geographical location will readers pick as the totem geo-rock band?

Will it be psychedelic-proggers Kansas, straight-up cock-rockers Boston, the mellow balladeering of America, the jazz-rock fusion of Chicago, the prog-pop anthem rock of Asia, or the sultry new wave of Berlin?

Cast your votes in the poll on the right-hand navigation bar!

Endicott by Kid Creole and the Coconuts

This song by Kid Creole and the Coconuts is infectiously, annoyingly catchy. It's forever emblazoned in my memory from just one viewing of this video in the '80s. I have no doubt you'll be seeing this song turn up in the blog again.

Year: 1986
Rating: Lukewarm

Peg by Steely Dan

This relatively recent live version is pretty good, but of course lacks the crucial Michael McDonald backing vocal. I have an irrational love of Steely Dan, what can I say? They make me feel all warm and fuzzy, even when they're singing about drunk gamblers and letchy cradle-robbers.

Year: 1977
Rating: Luke Hot