The Rolling Stones - Can You Hear Me Knocking?

ORIGINATION Sticky Fingers
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT fairly good
RATING

If this song was by any almost other band, it would be a very good song. As a Stones song it only qualifies as good. Which is a shame, but really there's no changing it. It is a song that is essentially split in two pieces: firstly the actual with-words song, then an extended jam piece with some funky percussion.

The song portion is a good piece of blues rock, being especially notable for Billy Preston's soulful organ and some choppy guitar chords. The chorus is also pretty catchy and, as with the rest of this portion, there is something of a Southern feel to it. More than any other Stones song, this clearly inspired the Black Crowes who took the sound and pushed it out over a whole, very good, album.

The second portion of the song takes place mostly through two solos. First up is Bobby Keyes on tenor sax. He played on many Stones songs of the period and, against the odds (just think of your sax solos in rock history), produces a tasteful solo. New boy on guitar Mick Taylor is on next and gets the longer solo. It's blue in tone and quite laid back with some nice, understated support from both Preston and Keyes. Taylor runs on until Keyes's sax comes back in more forcefully just before the end of the tune.

All in all, it is a pretty good song. However, it is no Gimme Shelter, so it will never be anything better than good.

The Box Tops - The Letter

ORIGINATION dunno
LAST LISTENED TO not sure
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT variable
RATING

Today is a bit of a weird one. Last night i listened to a cover of The Letter by Mongo Santamaria, famed Latin percussionist. This morning i have the original in my head. It's not every day that happens. However, i don't think i have a copy of the original, so there really isn't much i can say about it. I seem to recall that it is ok and that the chorus is quite catchy, but that's as far as i can go. Anything else is up to you.

nah, it's gone

Well, there was something. Earlier on. When i woke up. Only thing is, by the time i actually got out of bed i had forgotten it. Hardly a surprise as many hours had passed. A whole host of cocktails and an addictive Murakami novel will do that. I'll leave you to work out the order yourself. Tomorrow i shall attempt to get it together…

Ben E King - Supernatural Love

ORIGINATION 7"
LAST LISTENED TO a bit last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT ok-ish
RATING

By the middle of the 70s, many a soul star of the previous decade had either stopped recording or adapted to the sounds of funk and disco. Ben E King was no exception to this rule. Other than he did both, but lets not quibble.

After 5 years with no record contract spent in the hell of the oldies circuit, King was re-signed to Atlantic records in '75 and recorded several albums. Straightaway he had a hit single with Supernatural Thing.

It is a smooth piece of '70s soul, much in the style of Al Green (although not quite as smooth). It rolls along at a steady pace, with drumming that sounds very much like Al Jackson, Jr. (drummer for Green and a member of Booker T. & The MGs; also more accurate than a drum machine, apparently). In a similar vein is the guitar and bass, which have something of a Stax sound. The bass rolls along steadily with the drums, whilst two guitar tracks pick and chop their way around this steady rhythm. The rest of the tune is carried by some down-low organ and a some quiet bongos. Finally, on vocals, King is backed with a female group that give some great call and response.

Other than the great, rolling rhythm, the real stand-out feature of the song are the choruses. After the call and response vocals, there are a few short stop and start sections that have a lot of power. Interplanetary! Extraordinary! Beautiful.

The Pretenders - Brass In Pocket

ORIGINATION don't know
LAST LISTENED TO not the slightest
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT apparently there was a bit of one
RATING

I have never owned this track, so i can't claim to ever have listened to it. I think i do have a cover by Suede, however, from an abysmal NME covers compliation. Anyway, i don't care much for this track in either form and that's all i have to say about that.

Black Sabbath - Sweet Leaf (Live)

ORIGINATION Live At Last
LAST LISTENED TO a few days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not too great
RATING

You know, i've never really liked Sweet Leaf. For all that i have been a fan on Black Sabbath for many a long year, this track is one that i have never had much time for. I can't think of any good reason for it. Maybe the riffing wasn't heavy enough. Hmm. The live version here fares no better, either.

Some months ago there was another Sabbath track in my head, Into The Void, and it is far better.

Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood

ORIGINATION Gorillaz
LAST LISTENED TO maybe a few seconds last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT ok, i guess
RATING

I do kinda like this number, but not hugely. I fear it is the Damonish element in it that part of me finds objectionable. Which doesn't make too much sense, as i don't on the whole dislike Blur. Maybe it is just over-exposure that bugs me.

Actually now that i think about it, the reason that i don't really like this too much is that it's just not that good. Compared to other similar work, and i'm thinking in particular of the Handsome Boy Modelling School (with whom they share producer Dan Nakamura), it is second rate. I guess you can't go far wrong with a good marketing campaign.

Jamie Hewlett's graphics, on the other hand, i do have a lot of time for. Always have done.

Radiohead - Electioneering

ORIGINATION Ok Computer
LAST LISTENED TO a few days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT reasonable
RATING

If you don't know who Radiohead are, then just go away now. You clearly have had you ears closed for too long. This is as close to a rocking as they get on this, their third (and most lauded) album. It is good, particularly some of the guitar work in the climax, but there are better tracks on here. Mostly i like it as part of the album, rather than as a stand alone track.

'80s Crap

I almost couldn't believe it when i woke and found what was in my head. Not only do i dislike most of these songs, but i can't even recall hearing anything of them in a long, long, lonely, lonely, lonely, long time. It actually took me a little while to work out what was going on as well, since they were all playing at once. So, starting with the best:

Madness - House Of Fun

ORIGINATION some ancient singles compilation
LAST LISTENED TO some years back
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT really, really small
RATING

I do have a soft spot for Madness. They were the first band i ever noticed and liked. House Of Fun was really just a typical single of theirs and it was one of whose meaning i had little comprehension for quite some time after first hearing it. I believe i used to think it was just about a joke shop.

Aha - Take On Me

ORIGINATION no idea
LAST LISTENED TO never
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT in a just world there would be none
RATING

Now we get to the crap. How this came to be in my head is totally beyond me. Although, i do seem to recall an old friend and sometime flatmate who used to quite like these buffoons and who would of an occasion play their music. This was especially unpleasant when he stayed in the room next to mine, with our rooms being separated by partition walls so thin it was a wonder that they didn't just fold to the floor. And why is it i can still picture the bloody video that went with this crap? It was the one that was all pencil drawing coming to life, wasn't it? To be fair, however, i do like just a little bit the high-pitched wailing bit near the end. I have no good reason for this.

Billy Idol - White Wedding

ORIGINATION again with the no idea
LAST LISTENED TO sometime around 1984 probably
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT clearly there was one, but it was a million to one
RATING

I offer no excuses for this because it's not. my fault. Not really. Who can claim responsibility for their subconscious? I make the insanity plea. Eye thang yew.

Oh crap, a gap.

It's been many, many weeks since i last walked this way. Things have been difficult in the real world. The interland was hard to find as well, what with having no monitor for some time and no connection. But i am back and i have kept note on my wandering morning head songs. In, due course, i shall attempt to fill in the gaps. Aren't you pleased? I bet you can't wait to see what they are.