Los Angeles Is Burning: Bad Religion, Sniff 'N The Tears, Forever The Sickest Kids, Arthur Alexander

"DRIVER'S SEAT"    SNIFF 'N THE TEARS

1979 hidden treasure song from a UK band that snuck into the US top 40 charts.   I remember having the 45 single and wearing it out.   The song was also used in Mark Wahlberg's "Boogie Nights".  The homemade video is just an attractive woman on a roadtrip but it's captivating in its simplicity.

"FOREVER GIRL"    FOREVER THE SICKEST KIDS

From Dallas, TX, Forever the Sickest Kids are a pop punk/emo band that teenage girls love.   "Forever Girl" isn't full of deep lyrics and complex musical interludes.   It's a simple direct love song to make you smile.   Love the line: "Cause we've got that thing that other people dream about and see on silver screens, it's undeniable!"  

"LOS ANGELES IS BURNING"   BAD RELIGION

Not your typical California punk band, Bad Religion is known for three part harmony, intellectual  political messages in their deep lyrics.    Their CD, "The Empire Strikes First" was "dedicated to get George Bush voted out of office".   "Los Angeles Is Burning" features Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.   Ironically, the L.A. Lakers use this song as a promotional clip when they're "on fire"!

"SHARING THE NIGHT TOGETHER"   ARTHUR ALEXANDER

Dr. Hook took this song to #6 in the 70's but the original was a classic R&B classic but the little known Arthur Alexander.   Music trivia:  Who's the only songwriter to have his songs covered by The Beatles, The Stones and Bob Dylan?   Arthur Anderson

When You Were Mine (Rare): Art Of Dying, Tesla, Cyndi Lauper, and Day Of Fire

"WHEN YOU WERE MINE"  CYNDI LAUPER

Cyndi Lauper covering early Prince, here's a rare AMA video captured from a Japanese fan site.  Never afraid to take chances, Cyndi's visual stage presence, her performance art style, and her ability to mesmerize a crowd was seen here early in her meteoric career.

 
"BEST I CAN"    ART OF DYING

The song opens with the ominous lyrics:   "Tonight I feel the world won't miss me, so much to say but there's no one listening" and you wonder if it's a song about suicide.   But as the lyrics progress, you feel the fight, the hope, determination: "I got a picture of what matters and I keep it close to my heart, it's a little faded but so am I."   From the 2009 Canadian New Artist of the Year, Art of Dying is a new band on the rise.

"THE FIRST TIME"   TESLA

Tesla returned in 2008 with their finest CD since Psychotic Supper in the early 90's.   The sound is the perfect combination of contemporary rock with their signature sound.   "First Time" is embracing life to the fullest and adds to Tesla's legacy.

"THE DARK HILLS"  DAYS OF FIRE

Christian rock band, Day Of Fire, only released three CD's but my favorite track by them is "The Dark Hills".  Questioning your worth, your place in this world, the lyrics hit you like a punch in a face:  "searching for the truth through stained glass windows covering up in shame only things I know"  "If anyone knew this ugliness inside me would they throw a stone, would they crucify me?   How heavy was the crown of thorns?"   The theme of forgiveness is laced in the chorus in this dynamic song.

 

While My Guitar Gently Weeps: India.Arie,Carlos Santana, Shalamar, Laura Branigan, Rock Kills Kid

 "WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS" INDIA.ARIE, SANTANA, YO YO MA

Reinventing a Beatles song is tricky ground.    Adding in Yo Yo Ma's violin, the neo-soul silky voice of India.Arie, and Latin guitar hero, Carlos Santana, the classic "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" gets a 2011 makeover extreme.    The Eric Clapton / George Harrison song has never sounded so JOYFUL, hopeful, and the jazzy interpretation takes your mind drifting to a mellow happy place.    As usual, Carlos demonstrates his amazing talent to combine restraint with dynamic fury.     Brilliant!

"THE SECOND TIME AROUND"          SHALAMAR

Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniels were two of the highlight dancers on Soul Train in the 70's and 80's.    Jeffrey was known for his popping and locking moves that influenced Michael Jackson!   Jody Watley went to #1 with solo hits like "Looking For a New Love".    But when the two of them were combined with the amazing vocal talents of Howard Hewitt, they became Shalamar and live on in music history as one of the underrated R&B bands of all-time.   "Second Time Around" has a retro 80's synthesizer beat, slick dancing moves, and a feel-good vibe.

"TI AMO"                     LAURA BRANIGAN

Must be an 80's mood today!     "Gloria", "Solitaire", "Self Control", early MTV videos that took Laura Branigan to the top of the charts.     Her incredible voice could hit four octaves and her dramatic tone was never more evident that on the yearning love song "Ti Amo" from her second CD.   Incidentally, both "Gloria" and "Ti Amo" were originally huge hits in Italy by Umberto Tozzi but to us in the US, they are Laura Branigan songs now.   Sadly she died at the age of 47 in 2004 of a brain aneurysm.  

"HIDEAWAY"  ROCK KILLS KID

Each week, I-Tunes offers up a few free tracks of new music.   Usually they're new artists looking for exposure and after one or two listens, they're deleted.   One exception was this emo-rock jam from 2006.   Rock Kills Kid sound like the Killers mixed with Echo and the Bunnymen.    Haven't heard any new music from them, but this song is a favorite.

PETA Warriors: Third Eye Blind, Rise Against, Patty Smyth, Dead Milkmen

"DEEP INSIDE OF YOU" (Live)         THIRD EYE BLIND

Intense relationship lyrics on this song!  Those moments when you can't decide if you love them, hate them, lust, lasting memories, secrets, dreams, passion, sex, doubts, so many complex emotions exposed in these amazing lyrics.


When we met light was shed
Thoughts free flow you said
You’ve got Somethin’
Deep inside of you


A wind chime voice sounds
Sway of your hips ‘round rings true
It goes deep inside of you
These secret garden beams
Changed my life so it seems


A Fall breeze blows outside
I don’t break stride
Thoughts are warm
And they go deep inside of you
Oh yeah    And I never felt alone
Alright  Ohhh ohhh ‘til I met you


Friends say I’ve changed
I don’t listen   ‘Cause I live to be
Deep inside of you
Slide up her dress
Shouts in darkness
I’m so alive
I’m deep inside of you


You said boy made girl feel good
But still Deep inside still
I never felt alone
‘Til I met you
I’m alright on my own
And then I met you
And I’d know what to do if I just knew what’s comin’


I would change myself if I could
I would walk with my people if I could find ‘em  And I’d say that I’m sorry to you
I’m sorry to you
And I don’t wanna call you
But then I wanna to call you
‘Cause I don’t wanna crush you
But I feel like crushin’ you
And it’s true
I took for granted you were with me
I breathe by your looks and you look right through me


P.S.  Props to Stephen Jenkins for dating Charlize Theron! 

  
"SAVIOR"       RISE AGAINST
 

Fun Fact:   Punk rockers, Rise Against, were named PETA's Most Animal Friendly Band for their support for animal rights.   They've been around for about 10 years and their sound reminds me of Social Distortion and Bad Religion.   "Savior" is probably the first "love song" I've heard from them and it's currently rising up the rock charts, love their energy here!  Great lyric:  "I love you but I'm not the answer for the questions that you still have." 

"ISN'T IT ENOUGH"  (Letterman)      PATTY SMYTH

First saw Patty Smyth in concert on Halloween night at the Orpheum in downtown Minneapolis when Scandal opened for John Waite.   Patty was dressed in a witch costume and blasted out "The Warrior", "Hands Tied" and all of Scandal's first two albums.    Mrs. John McEnroe turns up her feisty NYC attitude with this straight ahead rocker from an early Letterman Show.  There is something so sexy about women rockers!   I can see why the girls fall for the bad boys in the band.

"PUNK ROCK GIRL"                    DEAD MILKMEN

Early MTV favorite from this humorous punk band from Pennsylvania.   This was a college radio staple and featured in a Beavis and Butthead episode.    Ignore the simple chords, the off-key vocals, and the rambling silly lyrics about Minnie Pearl and Zipperhead.   At the core of this song, it's a root for the underdog silly love song!  If you know it, you love it and it'll be stuck in your head again!  If you've never heard it before, hopefully you'll smile at what kind of music,  crazy people in the 80's listened to.