Takin' You Back
A healthy dose of Wings!
I will never try and convince you that most of Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles stuff is worth owning, but I do like the 1970’s Wings catalog more than John Lennon’s stuff. McCartney’s stuff was more consistent and Lennon had more extreme peaks and valleys.
Wings – Rock Show – Off of Venus and Mars, this is a great goddamn rock n' roll song. It has a seeming spontaneity that makes it fun without sounding sloppy. Whenever someone mentions bar bands or music that has a bar band sound, I always think of Wings. I don’t know why this is, because there was almost nothing bar bandish about them. Oh, well.
Wings – Mull of Kintyre – Okay, so I picked this because it has a bizarre song title. It also happens to feature some mean bagpipes. This is enough to make me showcase this bad-boy. This was their biggest hit in England, yet I would bet most Americans haven’t even heard it before.
Wings – Listen To What The Man Says – Take care of your weekly fix of saxophoning right here. I just can’t get enough of saxophone. Damn, I miss the seventies and eighties. Anyway, this is a prime example of McCartney’s whimsical seventies songwriting style.
STREAM: Wings - Rock Show
STREAM: Wings - Mull of Kintyre
STREAM: Wings - Listen To What The Man Says
Posted by Greg Herald on Jan 30, 2008 @ 12:00 am
We've Got You Covered
The soundtrack for the video game "Stubbs the Zombie" features a number of great covers. Over the next few weeks, HEAVE will deliver a few of the best ones.
Ben Kweller kicks off the "Stubbs the Zombie" soundtrack with his cover of the Ronald and Ruby classic “Lollipop." This song is arguably the best on the soundtrack. Upon hearing the first 10 seconds of the song, be prepared to have the entire song stuck in your head for the better part of a decade, but in an endearing way. Kweller’s voice and the simple harmony almost make you wish that it was 1962 and you were in a diner or soda shop somewhere. Maybe then you could save the hot girl from Biff and be the coolest kid at the whole sock hop.
Regardless of the era, the song is one that anyone can enjoy. Whether it’s sung by Ben Kweller, the Chordettes or Ronald and Ruby, “Lollipop” will have you tapping your feet and either singing, humming or whistling the melody for at least the rest of the day. Don’t believe me? Well have a listen and see for yourself. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, though.
STREAM: Ben Kweller - Lollipop
Posted by Cory Roop on Jan 29, 2008 @ 12:00 am
Vinyl Diving
Just because it's vinyl doesn't mean it's old.
I don’t really like the phrase “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” but I guess it can apply when you are referring to a friend who has a somewhat different musical taste than you. I was having a conversation one day with a friend who is not a fan of The Promise Ring. “Cap’n Jazz is better,” they’d say. I’d scoff and disagree, while trying to maintain some sort of credibility within musical taste ranks...
Posted by Wes Soltis on Jan 29, 2008 @ 12:00 am
The Chime In
Which band should have never broken up?
We all have a band that we wish was still together. HEAVE gives you their picks. Some of these bands may get back together at some point and release a crappy live album.
Ryan Peters
It's funny that we should ask this question less than a week before the release of the new Mars Volta album, because my life would be better in an exponential amount of ways if At The Drive-In had never called it quits...
Posted by Wes Soltis on Jan 28, 2008 @ 12:00 am
Record Numbers
Surprisingly, people still buy albums.
With people paying off holiday bills and only a few new releases in the market, album sales were sluggish this week. Still, Alicia Keys managed to hold onto the top spot for the third week in a row with 61,000 copies of As I Am. Backed by the massive popularity of the single “No One,” Keys has shown chart power that few other female artists have managed in the last year.
The soundtrack to the indie-darling “Juno,” grabbed the second spot, moving 58,000 units. Expect sales to go up next week as the movie just received a bunch of Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. Mary J. Blige moved up to the third spot with 52,000 copies of Growing Pains, which, sadly, does not feature Kirk Cameron on any of its tracks. Radiohead continued to thumb its nose at the entire industry by selling another 46,000 copies of an album that they originally gave away for as little as 99 cents. Including digital sales, In Rainbows is turning out to be one of the most successful albums in the band’s long career. R&B’er Raheem Devaughn landed in the fifth spot with 45,000 copies of Love Behind the Melody, while Taylor Swift came in at number six with 34,000 copies of his self-titled debut. Despite only being sold at Target, John Legend’s new live album charted at number seven with 33,000 copies. Chart mainstay Now 26 slipped a few spots to number eight, but still managed to sell 30,000 units. That was barely enough to beat out the 29,000 copies of Exclusive that Chris Brown pushed, landing him in the ninth spot. The “Hannah Montana 2” double-disc upped its sales by 3%, and took the last spot in the top ten with 27,000 copies.Posted by Ryan Peters on Jan 25, 2008 @ 12:00 am