In my never ending attempt to diversify your playlists, here's another round of off-the-beaten-tracks with names in their title. Those of you with iTunes filled to the brim with songs like "Hotel California" and "Stairway to Heaven" may be in for a bit of a shock. Just repeat to yourself that not everything entering your auditory canal needs to have been a big hit. Sometimes you have to jump off the fairway and hunt around in the rough because the hidden gems often are the sweetest.
And God knows there's been "name songs" a plenty over the years: "Mandy", "Hey Jude", "Joanna" (Kool & the Gang), "Think of Laura" (Christopher Cross), "Barbara Ann", "Angie", "Peg", "Daniel", etc. Here's a bunch of name songs that perhaps you haven't heard. Granted, most of them aren't exactly the greatest songs ever recorded, but maybe somewhere in this list you'll find that hidden gem buried in the rough.
Sample Tracks:
Sally by Ian Thomas
Ian Thomas was actually Dave Thomas' (SCTV, Strange Brew) younger brother. This song is a textbook example of that late seventies cock rock, full of rock star posturing and macho Canuck swagger.
Lucinda by The Knack
The band that will forever be associated with the name song "My Sharona", released a number of good recordings that never even grazed the charts - count this name song among them.
Song of Lita by Lou Christie
Everyone remembers "Lightning Strikes"; however, most will care to forget this strange little number. I include it as a sample to warn you that many of these songs are unbearably awful, but, like this song, oddly fascinating. Also, the sound quality isn't the best on this track and several others - but such is often the case from old records that have never had an official 'digital remastering'.
DOWNLOAD RETROSPACE MIX TAPE 22
| Artist | Title | Year |
| The Burbank Strings | Theme For Elaina | 1964 |
| Comus | Diana | 1971 |
| Ross McManus | Patsy Girl | 1964 |
| Ian Thomas | Sally | 1978 |
| Status Quo | Claudie | 1973 |
| Dale McBride | Barbara | 1964 |
| Chris Rainbow | Dear Brian | 1978 |
| Eddie Holland | Brenda | 1964 |
| John Prine | Sam Stone | 1971 |
| Jefferson Starship | Caroline | 1974 |
| Round Robin | Kick The Little Foot Sally Ann | 1964 |
| David Gates | Ann | 1973 |
| Lou Christie | Song Of Lita | 1966 |
| Chopper | Eddie | 1979 |
| Leigh Stephens | Joannie Mann | 1969 |
| Sam Riddle | Angela Jones | 1966 |
| Canterbury Tayles | Angie | 1966 |
| Fanny | Butter Boy | 1975 |
| Stealers Wheel | José | 1972 |
| Minny Pops | Monica | 1979 |
| Paul Stookey | Sebastian | 1971 |
| Spooky Tooth | Moriah | 1973 |
| The Coachmen | Gabrielle | 1967 |
| Chad Mitchell | Suzanne | 1967 |
| Michael Nesmith & The First National Band | Rene | 1971 |
| Jimmie Spheeris | Esmaria | 1971 |
| Justin Hayward | Marie | 1977 |
| The Magpies | Maisy | 1967 |
| John Barry | Peter Franks | 1971 |
| Today's Special | Krista | 1968 |
| The Zebra | Miss Anne | 1968 |
| Fountain Of Youth | Liza Jane | 1969 |
| The Great Love Trip | Noah | 1969 |
| Kiki Dee | Jimmy | 1970 |
| Barry Manilow | Sandra | 1974 |
| Eric Carmen | Hey Deanie | 1978 |
| Good Rats | Gino | 1979 |
| Ian Hunter & Mick Ronson | Angeline | 1979 |
| James Gang | Alexis | 1973 |
| Janis Ian | Jesse | 1972 |
| Juicy Lucy | Jessica | 1971 |
| Knack | Lucinda | 1979 |
| Robin Trower | Alethea | 1975 |
| Steve Miller Band | Sweet Maree | 1976 |
Notes:
1) I'm well aware "Butter Boy" by Fanny has no business being in this mix. My bad. No idea how that wound up getting in there. Consider it a "bonus track".
2) "Monica" by Minny Pops may easily be the worst song ever recorded. The group can be somewhat forgiven because they were an Amsterdam electronic band and, thus, expected to be weird.
3) "Peter Franks" by John Barry is from the Diamonds Are Forever soundtrack
Points for including John Prine and Good Rats. And yeah, Lucinda really is a top notch song.
ReplyDeleteIt's about time you started doing the Mixed Tapes again. Some of these songs are true gems and haven't been heard from in a long time. Thank you for the rare and scratchy goodies,Gilligan. Budd
ReplyDeleteOne that I have always loved, but you seldom hear, is "Roberta" by Billy Joel.
ReplyDeleteIt was from his pre-commercial days. Street-life Serenade, I believe.
Good work. Hidden jems are often treasures worth seeking.
Thanks for introducing me to a Lou Christie song I had never heard. A bit wilder and more frightening than some of his other songs, but definitely coming from the same place. And he was Italian (born Lugee Geno Sacco), so perhaps that explains it!
ReplyDeleteAlso, Ross McManus, for those who didn't know, was Elvis Costello's father, and this was his only hit--in Germany!
Correction: Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco
DeleteMy memory of the liner notes for the Lightnin' Strikes LP failed me!
I've downloaded twice and it has problems unzipping. Tried two different methods. I end up with 43 songs instead of 44.
ReplyDeleteWhich methods did you try?
DeleteCool, bonus mega points for including Diana by Comus! They've reformed and are releasing new music BTW.
ReplyDeleteIt would be cool if in the middle of about every 5th song the track faded out and you heard the 'click' of the channel changing, and then the song fades back in like the old 8-tracks....
ReplyDeleteHaven't managed to unzip the files; keeps saying that I'm not allowed to. These Macs are really becoming increasingly fascist.
ReplyDeleteI would probably do a mix tape a week if it weren't for the headaches that come after each posting. Generally, it's Rapidshare's fault - but to be honest, they are probably the best file sharing biz out there. They're expensive and often hard to work with, but their not full of viruses, spam and porn like seemingly all the others.
DeleteI'm going to assume the problems with this mix tape are not all encompassing given that 99 percent of the downloads seem to have worked. Everyone let me know if I'm wrong - it wouldn't be the first time.
Given the amount of traffic you send Rapidshare's way, I'm surprised that they're even charging you.
Delete