What's in a name?

A list of forgotten singles by a cast of unknowns is up 4 review tonite, as we prepare 4 R ALL NEW MUSIC review-session later this week. Any1 who can guess the true identities of all of the following "unknowns" will win the usual free CDs we have lying around the house collecting dust. We'll start w/ the EZ 1's & they'll get more obscure as we go. Good luck & good listening!

* Jethro Toe: "Back to the Family" -- Sorta understated, catchy, funny song-story about the +'s & -'s of having strong family ties. I like the sly way the lead singer & flutist sings the lyrics. These guys might have a future.
* Reginald Dwight: "Ego"/"Teacher I Need You" -- "Ego"'s an affectionate, nostalgic, slightly bitter # about all the "childish, foolish, immaturish" things the singer & lyricist did while growing up, apparently while pursuing an acting career prior 2 taking-up music -- & how their current Xperiences reflect back on their adolescence. Catchy, great lyrics, marvelous choruses. "Teacher I Need You" is a rollicking rocker about a schoolboy stuck on his teacher; not introspective at all. Xcellent piano all over both of these trax.
* Johnny & the Moondogs: "Thank You, Girl"/"There's a Place" -- "Thank You" is a rather downbeat lovesong w/ ragged harmonies & some nice harmonica. The lyrics R a puzzle, perhaps saying less than they mean -- mayB the girlfriend helped the singer get over some kinda sexual problem? The ragged harmonies & harmonica return 4 the altogether more effective & more introspective "There's a Place," which has echoes of the Beach Boys' "In My Room." Could B the start of something big.
* Hollow Notes: "How Does it Feel to Be Back?"/"Diddy Doo Wop (I Hear the Voices)" -- "How Does it Feel" is a strong, smooth modern R&B piece straight outta the '70s, w/ a punchy production, good guitar & Xcellent smooth vocals by a coupla white guys from Philly. "Voices" is something altogether darker & more mysterious -- possibly about the shadowy inspirations 4 '50s doo-wop music.
* Paul Ramon: "Love in Song" -- Big heartfelt ballad w/ a huge production, great vocals & solid gtr & keyboards. This singer/songwriter could have a future.
* Mabel Greer's Toy Shop: "Every Little Thing"/"Something's Coming" -- "Every Little Thing" is a marvelous cover of an old Beatles tune, enthusiastically performed by a band that obviously really enjoys updating this old #. & stealing the gtr riff from "Day Tripper" during the long instrumental intro is hilarious. "Something's Coming" is a remake of the old Bernstein/Sondheim # from WEST SIDE STORY, also enthusiastically done, but a bit less of a song to start with. Still, who woulda thot of doing this in 2010? It's so kitsch!
* Carl and the Passions: "Feel Flows"/"It's About Time" -- "Feel Flows" is retro-hippy, strait outta 1972, w/ marvelous warped gtr, a phased flute solo, & some very warm vocals. The lyrics R a bit over the top. "It's About Time" is a driving rocker, riveting in its impact but still a little high-falutin' -- its lyrics R about The Meaning Of Life. Despite the lyrics, marvelous performances.
* J. Eddy Fink: "In the Winter"/"From Me to You" -- "Winter" is a stark portrait of lost love, brief & haunting. "From Me to You" is advice from the singer/songwriter 2 the man she's leaving; some of the lyrics seem etched in acid. & this woman can SING.
* The Paramounts: "Wreck of the Hesperus"/"Long Gone Geek" -- "Wreck" is a rockin' shipwreck-at-sea tale, w/ a rolling piano, good gtr & Xcellent orchestrations. The vocal coulda been stronger. "Geek" is another rocker w/ some nice gtr & great closing group-vocal choruses.
* White Clover: "Back Door"/"Can I Tell You?" -- "Back Door" is an underplayed ballad w/ some nice drama & Xcellent synthesized bagpipes at the end. "Can I" sounds like a demo, but rocks a bit & has some nice rudimentary violin work & above-avg. lyrics. A name 2 watch 4.
* Group X: "You'd Better Believe It"/"Lost Johnny" -- "Believe" is a driving wall-of-sound rocker w/ lotsa chattering synthesizers. "Johnny" is a stripped-down, menacing rocker w/ eerie lyrics, a mix of metal & punk.
* Giles, Giles and Fripp: "Cat Food"/"Groon" -- "Cat Food" has hilarious lyrics & a pianist who sounds like a cat tiptoeing across the piano keys. Amusingly off-kilter; you'll laff. "Groon" is a warped, reverberating gtr/bass/drums instrumental with the tones bouncing off in all kinds of diffrent directions. This will stretch your speakers & possibly your ears as well.
* Soft White Underbelly: "Morning Final" -- Keyboard-led horror story set in the NYC subways. Great choruses & some very nice gtr at the end.
* Bartley Butsford, Daniel Dust, Wilton Carpet & The Beak: "Doctor Diamond" -- Gtr-led horror story set in the NYC subways. Marvelous vocals, superb lyrics.
* The Architectural Abdabs: "Flaming" -- Marvelous fake-psychedelia, strait outta 1967, w/ tape-loop gtrs, harps, cuckoo clocks, phased vocals, & terrific work by the singer/gtrist & organist.
* Roger, Roger, Rick and Nick: "Jugband Blues" -- Spooky.
* Brew: "Manic"/"Spirit of the Water" -- "Manic" is a driving rocker about schizophrenia, frustrated & angry w/ some screamingly intense gtr in the middle. "Spirit" is a brief, ghostly mood piece, hazy & watery. Haunting.
* Simon Dupree and the Big Sound: "Think of Me With Kindness"/"Knots" -- "Kindness" is a gorgeous tho downbeat, mournful lost-love ballad, let down only by a kinda lame acapella midsection. "Knots" is the confusing, overly-complicated acapella sound of a relationship falling apart. These guys show some real talent.

Geologically-recent stuff offa the radio

I wasn't actually done writing about mix tapes. I have 5 90-min cassettes' wortha stuff here from early 1998 -- 4 mosta which I have NO IDEA who the artists represented R or were. I don't even know when mosta that stuff was originally released.
I also have 1 partly-finished tape of music from April 2004 (my last go-round w/ trying 2 keep current) when I felt a little more in-touch: On mosta that 1 I at least know who's singing. These days when I turn on the radio, if it's fairly current stuff I mainly just feel lost.
But NEbody out there who feels brave could help me out here, fill-in some of the shocking lapses in my musical knowledge & mayB educate me some by telling me WHO some of the artists R on the songs listed below, if (what I think R) the titles ring a bell w/ U.
Or, if there's some website Out There where I can punch-in a song title & get an artist's name as a possible ID I'd B willing 2 try that.
Whichever way it works out, U might B able 2 bring my musical knowledge a little bit closer 2 the Present Day....
A little background: During R last few months in Wyoming, the X & I had installed in R home a "cable-radio" receiver in an attempt 2 get some fairly current music in2 the house. There were -- get this -- only 6 radio stations that could B heard within the huge, isolated bowl that is North-Central Wyoming's Big Horn Basin. Mosta those stations were Country, which I could stand on a limited basis. There was 1 Oldies station, but it was satellite-programmed from a LONG way off & played the same oldies over&over&over....
The cable radio sounded great & it cer10ly Xpanded my current-music knowledge at the time. But when it Bcame more & more obvious that we'd B moving away (my boss at the newspaper where I worked then got Xactly 3 DAYS NOTICE B4 I left), we agreed 2 have the cable radio disconnected -- & B4 that happened I started taping everything that sounded even remotely good.
Enuf background. Listed below R what I thot were the highlights. How many of them do U know? & how stupid am I gonna look by admitting I don't know this stuff?
(Artists' names R included when I think I know them; titles R sometimes a very rough guess, & sometimes I don't have either 1.... Items marked w/ a * R especially good & especially bother me cos I don't know who the hell they R....)


* "I Know" (what you're doin', yeah yeah....)
Paula Cole: "I Don't Want to Wait," "Me"
* "Kiss the Rain"
Chumbawumba: "Amnesia," "Tubthumper"
The Cure: "Friday I'm in Love"
Loreena McKennitt: "The Mummer's Dance"
New Order: "Regret"
Wallflowers: "6th Avenue Heartache," "One Headlight"
* Dog's Eye View (?): "Everything Falls Apart"
Natalie Imbruglia: "Torn"
Alanis Morrisette: "You Learn," "Hand in My Pocket"
Cranberries (?): "Dreams," "Linger"
* "You're Not Alone"
* "If You Could Only See" (?) (...the way she loves me, maybe you would understand....)
Matchbox 20: "Push"
Lisa Loeb: "I Do"
Shawn Colvin: "Sunny Came Home"
Sheryl Crow: "Every Day is a Winding Road," "If it Makes You Happy"
Green Day: "Time of Your Life (Good Riddance)" (?)
* "What Would Happen?"
Mighty Mighty Bosstones: "The Impression That I Get"
Proclaimers: "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"
Annie Lennox: "Walking on Broken Glass," "No More 'I Love You's'"
Hootie & the Blowfish: "Hold My Hand"
* "Found Out About You"
* "What Do You Want From Me?"
Toad the Wet Sprocket: "Come Down"
Primitive Radio Gods (?): "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth...."
Jars of Clay: "Flood"
* "I'll Be"
* "I Love You Always Forever"
Third Eye Blind: "Semi-Charmed Life"
Dave Matthews Band: "What Would You Say?"
* "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (I'm sure I'm the only guy in the world who doesn't know who this is....)
Sadie B. Hawkins (?): "Right Beside You"
* "Oooh Ah Just a Little Bit"
Amy Grant (?): "Good for Me"
INXS: "Elegantly Wasted"


That 2004 tape includes:
Sixpence None the Richer: "There She Goes Again"
Michelle Branch: "Everywhere"
Five for Fighting: "100 Years"
Evanessence: "My Immortal"
John Mayer: "Bigger Than My Body"
Liz Phair: "Extraordinary"
Avril Lavigne: "I'm With You"
Sarah McLachlan: "Stupid"
U2: "Beautiful Day"
Matchbox 20: "Bright Lights"
Anna Nalick: "Breathe" (did she ever hava follow-up?)
...I feel on pretty firm ground w/ the ID's on all these.
But who did "She's So High"...? Probly another 1 I'm showing my massive ignorance about....


Now, if even a grumpy old fuddyduddy like me can get sucked in by stuff like this playing on the radio, there must still B something current out there worth hearing.
Think U can ID NE of the above titles/artists 4 me? I guess whoever ID's the most wins a free membership in OGRENET. (Which leaves Rastro & Crabby out in the cold -- I guess U guys could get a free copy of Group 87's A CAREER IN DADA PROCESSING. Or how bout the Television Personalities' MY DARK PLACES? Or Animal Collective's MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILLION? Coldplay's VIVA LA VIDA? Or....)