August 01, 2008 Earworm

To celebrate the art of multi-tasking I'm closing out the work week while opening a new month in a way that has kept me giggling all morning. I will not be alone in the task because the sound you are about to hear will be a thud followed by two squishy rolling splats when Kmatt's jaw hits the desk and her eyes roll clear off her head at the mention of a song she's probably not thought of in almost twenty years and probably hoped she'd never hear again: "A Zillion Kisses" by Tommy Page.

Pretty Boy Page stepped out of the coat closet of Nell's armed with a demo tape that he brazenly handed the house dj. The dj, probably impressed with the sixteen year old's pluck - he probably loved pluck - began playing Tommy's tracks which caught the ear of producer Mark Kamins who forced the hand of Sire Records' honcho, Seymour Stein who, betting that he had the male answer to Debbie Gibson, signed Tommy. The song that started it all, "Really Turning Me On", didn't stir the public so the free styling "A Zillion Kisses" got the nod, a video that showed just how awkward the now eighteen year old could be in front of a camera, and a wicked remix that inexplicably came packaged in Sire's generic 12" sleeve. Delighted by the title, I shelled out a buck for a promo copy knowing nothing about it. Much dancing occurred after the initial sugar shock and "A Zillion Kisses" would eventually become a part of the soundtrack to the ritual of prettying up for a night on the town which just seemed right considering the depth to be found in all three experiences.

Sugar highs inevitably fade and it had been a long time since I have given any thought to this song or to Tommy Page so it took a few minutes to place the tune I found myself humming as I washed the dog bowls this morning. When I found that I actually had Tommy's debut on cd - and his second!, tucked right beside another teeny popper with a short shelf life - Jennifer Paige, I was shocked but not nearly as much as I was when I discovered that both Tommy's first and second album are still in print.

After finally getting some hits - #29 with"A Shoulder To Cry On" in '89, and the #1 (and New Kids on the Block associated) "I'll Be Your Everything" in 1990 - Tommy couldn't keep up the chart momentum yet carried a fan base strong enough to support seven albums in a twelve year span. He is still in the music business, producing acts like "High School Musical" star Ashley Tisdale, obviously not straying far from his humble beginnings. Meanwhile, here I am twenty years later with a mean case of the giggles as I play this disposable ditty over and over...

July 31, 2008 Earworm

Aside from the expectation of improved sound quality and bonus tracks, the thing I look forward to most in remastered releases is the chance to hear the content as a new experience; tossing out perceptions of the material built over the years. In the case of Dead Or Alive's "Sophisticated Boom Boom", the memories of an archly camp album became a realization of how just how inconsistent it is which in turn brings to light just how good the good tracks are. Considering the recently released Yaz(oo) box, "In Your Room", I was surprised at how consistently good their songs were after years of whittling down the brief catalog to a few favorites. Yes, "I Before E Except After C" is somewhat pointless but we can't really consider that a song... and they shouldn't have either.

If Yaz was started only to find a voice for Vince Clarke's "Only You", that alone warrants much thanks and respect, but hearing it in this new and improved setting has made me remember just how good it sounded before repetition and a preference for "Upstairs At Erics" other ballad, "Midnight", led to years of skipping over it. Under all those blips and beeps lies a lovely melancholy melody colored in by the air of Alf's resignation, an art that the boys in Depeche Mode probably knew they were then incapable of when they turned the song down. And with the delivery of one line, "'can't take no more", Alison Moyet demonstrated her worthiness of being called "The Voice"; adding so much to so few words that it almost distracts the listener from the preceding line, "and I wonder what's mine", which, as anyone who has ever had to divvy up a life when it's over knows, can be the cruelest part of the end.

"In Your Room" sounds great and the compilers have shown great respect for the source by refraining from the tampering called improvements to which so many such projects fall victim. The only beef I have is that the material could have easily fit onto two cds instead of three, providing a more chronological listening experience and a smaller price point.

July 30, 2008 Earworm

By sheer persistence, Matt Bianco's "More Than I Can Bear" may be my ultimate summer song. As track two on "Whose Side Are You On", their debut LP, it closed out my summer of '84 and, in this mix, forever conjures up the smell of New York and the not so fresh feeling that accompanies the steamy heat of that city in August.

The remixed single version or, as I call it, Basia's last dance, was one of the few records that I carted around as I tried to reaffirm my footing in the hazy heated blur that was Baltimore in the summer of 1985. It played constantly as a main character of my childhood suddenly wandered into my second attempt at one, and as three new characters, all of whom I'm happy to now find within reach if not close enough to touch, joined in the dramedy of my life.

The inclusion of the remix on the US edition of the band's second album filled the summer of '86 with moments where I would play it as the evening began at The Depot, dropping the tone-arm and rushing to the bar to join that childhood friend in a campy duet, the soda dispensers as our microphones; lying on the living room floor in the dark with Renee, drunk on her despair, and chain smoking our way through repeated plays while singing every word as an attempt at exorcism; make out sessions with a beautiful boy in his tower high rise, in front of a wall of windows as the headlights from the cars below crawled across the ceiling and down the wall, stopping briefly on our faces before returning to us our privacy.

The next three summers brought new characters - fresh crop, we'd call it - and inevitably one of them would love the song as much as I and so it played on and on until it was time to go. Rummaging through endless mix tapes made over the years confirms its endurance and, by examining what proceeds and follows it, how it has fit so many occasions and moods, becoming timeless in my process.

As I look back at how the time has flown, realizing that it was nineteen years ago this week that I left home again, and finally for good it appears, and as the temperature rises into the 90's, the appreciation of my treasures from the 80's climbs even higher. And while I wouldn't change a thing that has happened since then, I'd give anything to have all those treasures together again, if only long enough to listen to "More Than I Can Bear", and to see if we've held up as well as it did.

July 29, 2008 Earworm

For most, it's the harmonies; for me, it's all about the guitar. I'm not sure what that says about me since the harmonies offer romance so alluring that well lit silk sheets come to my mind, while the guitar is sexual coercion, opening the record with a pants dropping moment that would make Senator Kennedy proud. Maybe it's a perfect example of how differently men and women view the goal of seduction. In the end, it probably doesn't matter much: when you consider how busy things get and how little is said during the records final minute, it's safe to assume that every need is met.

Bones Howe's arrangement and production is as impeccable as always, showering our ears with pop through the soft focus of California sun and Dick and Don Addrisi's composition is miles away from their sophomoric date night ode to "Cherrystone", but one listen to The 5th Dimension's plodding version of this same song, again with Bones Howe in charge, proves that the warmth of "Never My Love" radiates from the mouths of boys in The Association.

But before we get too warm and fuzzy, consider that one verse ends with "with me" and the other with "on you"... I'm pretty sure that the guitar had plans from the very start.

'Sorry, Pat...

July 28, 2008 Earworm

I've given much love to Lindsey Buckingham throughout the earworm pages - and no, Toonces, not because of the jeans - while giving scant attention to his muse and, one would think, albatross, Stevie Nicks.

Yes, I know... but...

Okay, let's just get it out of the way...

"Stevie, love the Frankenboots but I'm going to ask you one more time to put my mom's sheers back up in the front room window. And Ronnie Spector called and she wants her vibrato back..."

Poor Stevie, our Welsh witchy gold dust woman, went solo and all those grating tendencies were allowed to run rampant. Worse, the push for those solo hits allowed for some of the ghastliest sell out sounds outside of Jefferson Starship. Blow abuse and weight gains and all the other excesses associated with two decades not known for discretion took its toll. And then, as VH1 told us, "tragedy struck".

Still, the girl could write a great song and, in her hippy-dippy LA chic pre-solo period, had a place on my bedroom wall where her California glow amplified the sun coming in from the window. Stevie needs someone looking after her and if it wasn't Lindsey or the other Mac's, the best parental guidance came from Tom Petty and arguably her best record was their first duet, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around", an accidental record. Petty had written another song for her but had a change of heart at the last minute, prompting him to offer up "Stop Draggin'..." as a replacement. As recording commenced, all involved realized that the song worked best as a duet. Thankfully, Don Henley wasn't around at that moment...

Of course, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" sounds like a Heartbreakers record that just happens to feature Stevie Nicks which is probably why it has aged as well as it has. With that said, it would be easy to discount Stevie because of it but anyone who has heard the Petty demo knows that it's Stevie who makes the whole thing pop.

Stevie would "duet" with Tom and crew on "Run To You" for her next album but it would be overlooked for single release. Instead, "Stand Back" would be chosen and my recent discovery of that songs inspiration and the source of that songs uncredited yet most royal synth work left me almost as slackjawed as I was when I saw the pre-aerobic tread mill video for it. But that's another story and/or fodder for your google itch.

To reconsider: Evelyn Keyes

November 20, 1916 – July 4, 2008



My first movie star autobiography and a fascininating woman. Forty-seven films and two autobiographies offer much to reconsider.