Too late to water Mayflowers?

If my readership were a plant in my apartment, I would have forgotten to water it for a long, long time. It would probably look almost dead at this point. If it could speak, it might say, "Kill me."

For those of you who may have stuck around, my apologies. This has been a busy month, and it all culminated in this DJ gig I had over the weekend, playing music for a 10 year high school reunion. DJing a high school reunion is a strange assignment, at least to me. Especially for the year 1996. Good luck trying to find music that everyone can agree on for that year. I think the only stuff I could have played that would have satisfied almost everyone was Beck. . . and maybe Snoop Doggy Dogg? I know, stuff like DJ Shadow's debut came out that year, but do you remember the people you went to high school with? You were lucky if you had 2 other people who knew about DJ Shadow.

I toiled for weeks on coming up with a set list that wouldn't get me beat up. I scoured for crowd pleasers and hits, all the while trying to still maintain some dignity as someone who never wanted to be anything like a professional DJ, always having to reach sheepishly into that embarassing bag of tricks for "The Electric Slide" or "Brown Eyed Girl."

When the time for the big show finally came, I gave up and actually just decided to play shit that I wanted to play. I figured I'd just ride the guise of looking like a hired pro up until the point when people realized they hadn't heard a hit song in over an hour. Then, I figured I'd get punched in the face, so I could close up shop and leave early while still getting paid. For the most part, it went really well. Whenever you DJ there will always be a few people who you know will become problematic after they get a few drinks in them. First they come up cheering you because you're playing something that Vanilla Ice sampled. Then they ask if you do weddings. Then, the alcohol really kicks in and they're telling you that you suck because you don't actually have any Vanilla Ice. (This actually happened, punctuated by "What kind of DJ doesn't have Vanilla Ice?!" I gave the guy two middle fingers and hoped he wouldn't give me a concussion.)

I walked away unscathed from the whole ordeal, and was able to pay for a mixer with the money I made. I'd better start downloading "The Electric Slide" now!

In the midst of all this past month's business, I had a request from a friend (hi "Sal") to help her put together a mix to be played at her friend's (hi Anne-Marie!) wedding shower. Here I was on a Saturday afternoon, trying to figure out what a bunch of high school nostalgists wanted to hear during their party, and now I was being called in to think about marriage songs. It was going to be played during the party and then given away as a parting gift to everyone there. All age groups were represented, which made things extra odd for me. What kind of indie rock do you think your grandmother would like? Oh, and I've never met the person for whom the mix was made. Tall order.

All my worrying was apparently for naught. The mix was a hit and as it turns out, grandmothers have no problem digesting The Zombies. Tonight I'm posting the mix, in order. Regular readers (they're all gone now, right?) will probably notice that a lot of these songs have appeared on Pimps of Gore in the past year. Consider this a sort of "greatest hits" album, then. Pick up some of the songs you may have missed, and enjoy a couple of new ones in the bunch.

And congrats, Anne Marie. I was happy to help.

MAYFLOWERS/WEDDING SHOWERS

1. "Baby" by Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa
2. "Mushaboom" by Feist
3. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by Al Green
4. "So Fine" by Ike and Tina Turner
5. "A Certain Girl" by The Yardbirds
6. "Everyday" by Rogue Wave
7. "A History of Lovers" by Iron and Wine/Calexico
8. "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" by Richard and Linda Thompson
9. "Marriage is for Old Folks" by Nina Simone
10. "The Lengths" by The Black Keys
11. "This Will be Our Year" by The Zombies
12. "In a Funny Way" by Mercury Rev
13. "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" by Sandie Shaw
14. "Sneakin Up On You" by Peggy Lee
15. "A Natural Man" by Lou Rawls
16. "Sunshine of Your Love" by Ella Fitzgerald
17. "Bring it On Home to Me" by Sam Cooke
18. "Suddenly Everything Has Changed" by The Postal Service
19. "The Book Of Love" by Now It's Overhead
20. "When You Love Somebody" by Fruit Bats

And yes, I did realize that I put music from two divorced couples (Ike & Tina/Richard & Linda), and several break-up songs on the mix. You've got to have a sense of humor, right?

Forever NEIL YOUNG

In the time it has taken me between writing my last post on Pimps of Gore and this current post, NEIL YOUNG could have recorded at least two records. Of course, that's if he was keeping the pace he kept while creating his new album, Living With War, which he recorded in a matter of days and released to the world only a few weeks after completing it.

It's pretty rare that musicians make such truly artistic statements these days. Even if they wanted to speak out about the war or the government the way Young has on his new record, they're usually held up by the folks in marketing, or their managers or the people at their record labels. But when Neil Young shows up at your office with 10 blistering, angry and triumphant new songs -- in the wake of his recently released acoustic album and a performance film, no less -- you make the smart move and release them.

Young has been releasing albums on an almost annual basis (sometimes even two or three a year!) since he began his solo career after leaving Buffalo Springfield in the late '60s. While he suffered a brain aneurysm during the recording of last year's Prairie Wind, the near-death experience only seemed to make his work that much more urgent and poignant.

I have only listened to the new album twice, so I won't go into my opinions too deeply beyond the fact that it's great to hear a record where the immediacy of the message and the artist's need to speak out are in such plain view. Living With War is a raw record, but that doesn't mean it lacks songcraft or production value. This is a record about a moment in time, and luckily for us, that time is right now.

Tonight I'm giving you a sneak preview of the new album, along with a handful of my favorite Neil tracks, many of which I feel have been overlooked in the midst of his huge catalogue. Also, enjoy a few vastly different Neil covers as a bonus.

Neil, this note's for you:

"After the Garden" from Living With War: This is the opening track on the new album. I love that even though this record was recorded in a few days, Neil still took the time to employ an entire choir of backing vocalists on almost every song.

"Don't Cry" from Freedom: A goddamned barnburner from the album that got me into Neil Young when I was 12 or 13 years old and saw the video for "Keep on Rockin in the Free World" on MTV. It wasn't until that song that I realized how much this seemingly ancient man really rocked, but "Don't Cry" was the album track that made me realize that this guy was the gateway drug that would lead me into the really hard shit like Sonic Youth and Fugazi. Listen to that guitar explode!

"Helpless" from THE BAND's The Last Waltz: Here Neil performs one of his most heartbreaking songs with the help of The Band and Joni Mitchell. While some people dismiss it, I think The Last Waltz is one of the greatest rock concert movies of all time, for both its flaws and its successes. The movie's greatest effect is putting the viewing audience up on stage with the band, and not just out in the crowd. This microscopic perspective did lead to one hilarious story: While performing with the Band, Neil Young had a chunk of cocaine so large in his nostril that director Martin Scorcese had to delay its release while he used a technique called Rotoscoping (costing Band leader Robbie Robertson thousands of dollars) to remove the evidence behind the drug fueled performance. In the commentary track on the DVD, Robertson calls it "the most expensive cocaine I ever bought."

"Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" from the album of the same name: While this track comes from Neil's second solo album, it was his first record with his now legendary backing band, Crazy Horse. The album featured the hits "Cinnamon Girl" and "Down by the River," but for me, as a kid from Omaha Nebraska, this song really hits close to home. I could listen to this song on a loop for an hour and not get tired of those off kilter guitar stops and those "la-la-la, la-la-la-la's" that follow the great chorus, "I've gotta get away from this day to day running around / Everybody knows, this is nowhere."

"Only Love Can Break Your Heart" from After the Gold Rush: Okay, so Gold Rush isn't exactly overlooked (it's almost unanimously praised as one of Young's best records). "Only Love" was released as a single and made it to #33 on the pop charts in 1970, but you don't hear it on classic rock radio at all these days, and that's a damn shame.

"Lookout Joe" from Tonight's the Night: After the overdoses of two of Young's closest friends, roadie Bruce Berry and Crazy Horse Guitarist Danny Whitten, Neil Young made one of his most painfully honest records to deal with his loss. His record label balked over releasing the album for almost two years. I personally didn't discover Tonight's the Night until a couple of years ago, but I was floored when I heard it, especially "Lookout Joe."

"I'm the Ocean" from Mirrorball: I think it's fairly safe to say that Neil Young experienced a bit of a comeback in the early 1990s because of his friends in Pearl Jam, who acted as his backing band on 1995's Mirrorball. While Pearl Jam don't get in the way of Young's songwriting or sound, you might notice that the rhythm section on this record -- especially Jack Irons on drums -- chugs along a little more buoyantly than on most of Young's albums. Young would go on to return the favor by playing with Pearl Jam on their Merkinball EP, recorded at the same time as this album.

BONUS TRACKS!
"Only Love Can Break Your Heart" by Saint Etienne
"Down by the River" by Ken Boothe
"Harvest" by The Shins' James Mercer

TRIVIA: Neil Young's full name is Neil Percival Kenneth Robert Ragland Young.

BUILT TO SPILL: Perfect from Now & Then

The release of the new BUILT TO SPILL album, You in Reverse, sort of snuck up on me. It wasn't until I stumbled on a Tower Records email where the megastore was peddling autographed copies as part of their pre-sale for the record that I remembered the band had been working on new material. Half a decade has passed since the band's last album, Ancient Melodies of the Future, a somewhat patchy record with a few great songs peppered throughout.

After a well-received and somewhat obligatory Live album and a decent if somewhat lightweight solo record from frontman/songwriter Doug Martsch, it seemed like there might never be another Built to Spill record. I've interviewed Martsch two times and both times he gave me the impression that he was the kind of guy who only did things if and when he feels like doing them. Around the time of the Live record, we discussed the possibility of that being his last album for Warner Brothers (contractually, it was). He was totally unconcerned.

Well, at least I can fret no more. Warner Brothers is behind You in Reverse, and I'm glad to see they're doing what big record labels rarely do these days: supporting a band with mid-level record sales and letting them cultivate their own fanbase and following. (Of course, WB dropped that same ball with Wilco. Maybe they learned a lesson?) I like the new album a lot, especially album opener "Goin' Against Your Mind", an 8-minute guitar workout that recalls the band's earlier material.

I still need some time to listen to the new album, so I'd rather spend today's post telling you about the Built to Spill album that had a truly profound effect on me, Perfect From Now On. Perfect was actually the band's major label debut for Warner Brothers, and if you've heard it, you can only imagine the looks on the label honcho's face when he found out that this massive, dark record full of way-too-long-for-radio existential epics is where their money went. Even the band's indie debut, which featured similarly lengthy material, was full of fun and sarcasm (not to mention a few catchy ditties). Their second album, There's Nothing Wrong With Love found Martsch crafting intricate guitar-pop like "Big Dipper" and "Distopian Dream Girl". Great lyrics ("If it came down to your life or mine / I'd do the stupid thing / and let you keep on living"), hooks and quirky little guitar parts galore. . . these are hit songs, the strength of which sold Warner Brothers on Doug Martsch and company.

I wonder if they had any idea where Martsch was going to take things next. I certainly didn't, and neither did the friend of mine who told me how disappointed he was with Perfect. I trusted his judgment and avoided hearing the record myself for at least another year. I remember shopping at a Border's one night and deciding that I liked Built to Spill enough to gamble on buying the album.

It immediately hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm sure part of it was some sort of bizarre combination of time, place and emotional state, but Perfect From Now On was like this Rorschach inkblot of my entire life at that point. It spoke to every concern I was having, every shortcoming and every fear, and the music was as huge to me as the importance of figuring these problems out.

Right off the bat, after an ominous musical build-up, the opening verse of "Randy Described Eternity" has Martsch's title character trying to put the concept of eternity and infinity into some sort of tangible context. "Every thousand years / this metal sphere / ten times the size of Jupiter / floats just a few yards past the Earth / You climb on your roof / and take a swipe at it / With a single feather / hit it once every thousand years / 'til you've worn it down / to the size of a pea / Yeah, I'd say that's a long time / but it's only half a blink / in the place you're gonna be." This is serious business.

The second track, "I Would Hurt a Fly," digs even deeper as Martsch explores the darker side of human nature and the effect of the past on the future. "There's a mean bone in my body," Martsch warns as the band churns around his seemingly harmless voice. "It's connected to the problems that I won't take for an answer." The album's third track, "Stop the Show," seems (again, these are all my own interpretations) to examine who people are and who they present themselves as to everyone around them. Then you've got "Made Up Dreams." It's more lyrically vague, letting you fill in a lot of the blanks (but don't miss one of the best lyrics on the record: "No one wants to hear what you dreamt about, unless you dreamt about them").

It's at about this point in Perfect that the music becomes less ominous and more intricate and exploratory, almost as if the "narrator" is getting older and wiser as the record moves on. Put your headphones on and get a little lost in "Velvet Waltz." "You cold called everybody / but you haven't sold anything" is a great summation of how I felt after graduating from college and found myself in my first shitty job. If you love Neil Young and Crazy Horse, you're going to love the places this song goes in the last couple of minutes.

What follows after that is, in my opinion, one of the greatest album endings in the history of rock. The next three songs, "Out of Site," "Kicked it in the Sun," and "Untrustable," build to this amazingly majestic, almost empowering climax that feels to me like this unholy combination of the end of Kubrick's 2001 and The Beatles Abbey Road. The former for how the songs hint in some way at this larger of redemption and the latter for how things keep piling on top of each other until it's one big cacophonous, glorious explosion.

Obviously I can't give you that whole chunk (really, just go buy the album!), but for now check out the album's penultimate song, "Kicked it in the Sun". Like the other tracks making up the finale, this one actually seems like two or three songs stitched together. I love how the relaxed lounginess of the first half gives way to the second half through a lyric: "It's all right now, I'm getting over / Getting mine." The drums speed up and the the guitars tear into a new rhythm, as Martsch's "lead character" seems to begin some sort of process of acceptance or healing. "Despite his expectations, he turned out mediocre / His master plan was so-so / We're special in other ways / Ways our mothers appreciate." As I worked my first shitty job, I had time to contemplate the meaning behind "That net does not make me feel safe / All those holes make me nervous" and its relation to my discovery that the stability of having a job is an unpleasant compromise to living life like you thought it should be lived. After the company I worked for laid off the entire staff and gave us all a copy of this goddamned Golden Parachute book about landing on your feet, that whole "net" thing really seemed painfully apt.

The closing song, "Untrustable/Pt. 2 (For Someone Else," might be my favorite on the record, but it just didn't feel right posting that song here because it's THAT fucking good. The band deserves your dollar for what they pull off there. It's a great ending to a truly brilliant record. I still feel like Perfect From Now On is criminally underlooked, but maybe that's just because it meant so much to me at such a strange point in my life. It is Built to Spill's masterpiece, in every definition of the word. It's, dare I say, perfect.

A FEW BONUS TRACKS!!
"Big Mouth Strikes Again" (This is a Smiths cover from Doug Martsch's earlier band, TREEPEOPLE.)
"Someday" (Built to Spill have been known to do the occasional timely cover in their set, whether mourning George Harrison's death by playing "What is Life?" or covering a Macy Grey song that was topping the charts at the time. Here they pay homage to the Strokes.)
"Now & Then" (A b-side from another fantastic album in the Built to Spill canon, Keep it Like a Secret, which featured great stuff like "Carry the Zero".

K-Dillie's Super Sounds of the 70s

There's no denying it -- I'm a child of the 1970s. I grew up in an era where rollerskating and mini-golf were almost a way of life. Back when video games were about 20 times the size of today's computers, with 1/100,000th of the memory capacity. A time when skateboards were just a little larger than the size of a large adult foot, and seatbelts in cars were a recommendation, not a requirement. Go ask your moms: people didn't have baby seats back then. . . they just laid their kids down in the back seat and hoped for the best.

While every era in music has its cheese, from the corny stuff in the '50s to the hippy-dippy shit in the 60s to the Candleboxian "grunge" of the '90s, I seem to have a soft spot for the 70s stuff. In my last post, when discussing Grand Funk Railroad, I mentioned my love for a certain brand of 70s semi-bloated funky rock. A few readers agreed, and one even jokingly told me to come up with a Grand Funk 100.

As I said then, I don't think I could come up with a Grand Funk 10. Like a good deal of the bands I'm posting tonight, I wouldn't even say I'm a fan. I will say that I believe that most bands can surprise you with one or two great songs. Obviously there are more exceptions to my rule than I'd like to admit, but sometimes I'm wary to laugh about a band that might seem cheesey because I know that there's the slightest chance that they could meet my Grand Funk Principle: even a shitty band can pull of a great song, if the moon is right.

The 70s produced a lot of bad music, don't get me wrong. I wouldn't even be afraid to say that some of tonight's music is, in some way, bad. I just don't care. This stuff isn't brain surgery. This is the 70s stuff that was custom made for a few specific activities. Drinking in your backyard. Lighting a shitload of fireworks. Watching, or participating in, a roller derby. Driving fast, especially in a Camaro.

So crack a beer, strap on your skates and hit Random on this playlist. Oh, and wear some sweet ass short shorts.

"Hey Big Brother"
"I Just Want to Celebrate" by RARE EARTH: I mentioned Rare Earth's "I Just Want to Celebrate" in my previous post, but I foolishly failed to post the song. I remember growing up liking this song, and then deciding it sucked after hearing it one too many car commercials. It was David O. Russell's film Three Kings which reminded me of how cool it was after being used in the movie's opening credits. Eventually I broke down and bought a Best Of Rare Earth CD, where I discovered "Hey Big Brother," which has all the elements of my 70s Porno-Rock fetish: funky heavy guitars, tons of multi-tracked backing vocals, and squiggly keyboards or organs.

"Rave 'n' Rock" by DADDY MAXFIELD: While this one is more T.REXian than the rest of tonight's playlist, it's still totally porno and totally 70s. I honestly couldn't make you a rollerskating jams tape without this song, which I discovered with the help of one of my favorite blogs, Bubblegum Machine. Check that super sweet guitar solo. More bands need to ape Marc Bolan. Anyone actually own a Daddy Maxfield album? I don't know a thing about the guy.

"Roller"
"You Could Have Been a Lady" by APRIL WINE: Now this is some corny 1970s shit! Even the band name, like NAZARETH or BLUE OYSTER CULT, reeks of the era's corniness. Still, it rocks. Clock that THIN LIZZY-style dual guitar solo in the middle of "Roller." I've been known to drop my vinyl copy of "You Could Have Been a Lady" into my DJ set, and not exclusively because I find it so hilariously Canadian for a Canadian band to use the word "lady" in a rock song.

"Me and Baby Brother" by WAR: While originally a collaborating (they were formerly called Nightshift)/vehicle for Eric Burdon, former vocalist for THE ANIMALS, War struck out on their own after Burdon quit the band, citing exhaustion. This track, from their 1973 album Deliver the Word is pretty much better than anything they did with Burdon, and yes, that includes "Spill the Wine."

"Mr. Blue Sky"
"Telephone Line"
"Don't Bring Me Down" by ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA: If forced to make a definitive statement on the matter, I'd have to say that "Don't Bring Me Down" might be my #1 Roller Skating Jam of All Time. Jeff Lynne, the king of overproduction, really goes all on that one, throwing in sythesizers, hand claps, and a wall of vocals. "Telephone Line" is riddled with melodrama, but it remains a favorite 70s ballad. It's like a great soul song that grew up in a disco but was born for a bowling alley. But when it comes to "Mr. Blue Sky," my tounge is decidedly OUT of cheek. It sounds like an outtake from a George Harrison record (Lynne would later produce one or two bad Harrison records). A little trivia for fans of 60s psychedelic rock: ELO formed from the remains of THE MOVE.

"Nothing is the Same"
"Shinin' On"
"Sin's a Good Man's Brother" by GRAND FUNK RAILROAD: And now for the band that motivated this whole 70s post tonight. While Grand Funk (the Railroad was optional after their third album) was responsible for some truly awful clunkers like "We're An American Band" (yes, even as an Omahan who recognizes that the band namechecked them in a song) and their cover of "The Loco-Motion," they still prove they can tear you a new asshole in songs like "Nothing is the Same" (which De La Soul would sample years later on Buhloone Mind State). The epic "Sin's a Good Man's Brother" also appeared on the same album as "Nothing," and it's the template for all good cock rock. "Shinin' On" is from a few years later and was produced by Todd Rundgren. A little more trivia: Frank Zappa produced a Grand Funk record, and the Butthole Surfers named the band dog, which toured everywhere with them, "Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad."


(PHOTO: Christian Patterson)

Tell your dad to get off my back. . .

No time for dicking around tonight, as I'm laying around completely lazy as I enjoy the last day of a 5-day "vacation." I have an entire DVD of Undeclared episodes to catch up on, so I'm bringing you a quickie post full of covers (and in some cases, the original versions as well).

"Band of Gold" by the AFGHAN WHIGS: Let's get one thing right out in the open: the Whigs' Greg Dulli can not sing. He can howl and purge his soul with the best of them, but when it comes to hitting the notes in the technical sense, he's Exene Cervenka. In any other band it never would have worked, but the Whigs have a penchant for atonality. Those wiry guitar lines and droning feedback are the band's calling card(s), and they've rarely been as powerful as here, deconstructing and choking the perkiness out of this hit from Freda Payne. Diana Ross (CORRECTION: a sharp reader noted that this is the Freda Payne version I've posted, not the Ross version. . . I must now hunt down the Ross version and post it here when I find it) is the spurned lover, but Dulli is the dude sprawled out on his kitchen floor, covered in self-inflicted slash wounds and stinking of whiskey, surrounded by the shattered remains of his telephone.

"After the Gold Rush" by THOM YORKE: This is a live track from Radiohead singer Thom Yorke's appearance at a 2002 benefit for Neil Young's Bridge School. I've heard Radiohead cover a Neil Young song before (there's a live version of their "Cinnamon Girl" floating out there on the web), but after hearing this song, I won't be satisfied until the band does a whole album of Young covers. While he botches a lyric here and there, Yorke really nails the cracked, longing vocals in Neil's original song. The Flaming Lips once recorded a cover of this one.

"What'd I Say" by RARE EARTH: Anyone who has ever seen me DJ in Omaha can tell you that I have a shameless love for a certain brand of groovy 70s cock rock. I've been known to bust out the odd April Wine or Grand Funk track here and there, and I'll even come to the defense of Rare Earth, who had a big hit with "I Just Want to Celebrate." On "What'd I Say," these guys get their honkey funk groove all over the Ray Charles classic, which is pretty damn scorching in its own right.

"Jumpin' Jack Flash" by ALEX CHILTON: Yes, this is the Alex Chilton the Replacements were singing about. This raggedy cover comes from 1970, an album full of sessions Chilton recorded after the demise of his BOX TOPS (they had a hit with "The Letter" in 1967) but before the arrival of BIG STAR (they. . . didn't really have a hit). The album is a bit spotty in places, but there are a few great songs in there. Stones purists may hate the change in rhythm. I don't mind it a bit.

"Thirteen" by WILCO: Tying together a number of tangents in one song, here Jeff Tweedy pays tribute to the aforementioned Big Star by covering a gorgeous little song from their debut album and possible masterpiece, #1 Record. It's hard to believe the original Big Star version is almost 35 years old. I've heard some people complain that the thought of two guys writing a song about being thirteen and in love skeeves them out, but I just have to ignore their cynicism and enjoy the song for perfectly capturing how awkward and emotionally raw those days were. The recently unearthed version of "Thirteen" by ELLIOTT SMITH mirrors the Wilco version, making things a little more somber and unsure.

"Be Your Husband" by JEFF BUCKLEY: This Nina Simone cover is the opening track to the newly augmented double disc version of Jeff Buckley's debut EP, Live at Sin-e, and it's a great way to start the album because it's basically Buckley's soundcheck (the annoying guy asking for reverb is not Jeff), as he feels out the room and the microphone. Without ever touching an instrument, he hits almost every little nuance in Simone's "Be My Husband", right down to the grunts.

Rocking You with SHOCKING BLUE

A couple of years ago, I worked as a writer and assistant editor for a short-lived magazine published by MacWorld called Playlist. One part of my job was to fact check the celebrity iPod playlists we ran in the magazine. . . you know, making sure the artist's name is spelled right, making sure the song even exists, etc. It was kind of fun, especially when I'd be looking over playlists from Jack White or Rufus Wainwright and discovering all kinds of new music in the process.

One artist whose list surprised me was one of the drunken louts in the group Jet. Included in his list was a shout out to a Dutch group called SHOCKING BLUE. While researching his pick, I discovered that this was the band who had a hit in the '60s with "Venus." His choice was a song called "Send Me a Postcard." After a little scouring of the web, I found the song and was immediately blown away. Psychedelic bubblegum pop in the vein of QUESTION MARK AND THE MYSTERIANS or THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN, but with deep, powerful female vocals from sexy frontwoman Mariska Veres. "Not bad taste for a guy from Jet," I thought.

Regardless of the fact that they were one hit wonders in the U.S., the pathetic entry on the group at AllMusic.com is still less than the Shocking Blue deserve. "They generated enough hits in enough parts of the world to warrant a compilation on Rhino Records" is hardly a ringing endorsement.

The group was around for quite a while, but the absolute best place to start is by getting At Home, the same album that "Venus" appears on. Tonight I'm posting my own homemade EP, which includes 3 songs from that album. For regular readers, I already posted "Love Buzz" once before. For new readers, that is the original version of the song that NIRVANA would eventually make semi-famous on thier Bleach album.

If you like what you hear, happy hunting for the rest:

1. "Send Me a Postcard"
2. "The Butterfly and I"
3. "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind"
4. "Love Buzz"
5. "Hot Sand"

FOR MORE ON TONIGHT'S POST:
- Learn more about Shocking Blue than you will at AllMusic right here.
- Another Blue page
- Some info on lead vocalist Mariska
- Buy Shocking Blue music at Amazon.com