This week’s Mystery Date was submitted by Townsman misterioso.
Let’s review the ground rules here. The Mystery Date song is not necessarily something I believe to be good. So feel free to rip it or praise it. Rather the song is something of interest due to the artist, influences, time period… Your job is to decipher as much as you can about the artist without research. Who do you think it is? Or, Who do you think it sounds like? When do you think it was recorded? Etc…
If you know who it is, don’t spoil it for the rest. Anyone who knows it can play the “mockcarr option.” (And I’ve got a hunch at least one of you know this one.) This option is for those of you who just can’t hold your tongue and must let everyone know just how in-the-know you are by calling it. So if you know who it is and want everyone else to know that you know, email Mr. Moderator at mrmoderator [at] rocktownhall [dot] com. If correct we will post how brilliant you are in the Comments section.
The real test of strength though is to guess as close as possible without knowing. Ready, steady, go!
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/02-Mystery-Date-080311.mp3|titles=Mystery Date 080311]
While I was listening to this, I happened to notice that my socks are mismatched. Odd, that. Even odder is the fact that I know and very much like this album but it took me over a minute to pinpoint the song. I won’t give anything further away other than to say that this particular song is amazing in the sense that it sounds like it could have been recorded in any of the last four decades. Very fresh and spirited, and something I have always thought should be better known than it is. I’ll comment further when the truth has been exposed.
P.S. Really great choice for a mystery date–I bet we’ll get some very interesting responses to it.
It sounds like it’s fairly recent and I liked it but I’m not getting any other vibes like location, etc. I’ll keep listening to see if anything comes to me.
Like the song, but I don’t know who it is. It sounds like a 20 year old Lou Reed backed up by The Vulgar Boatmen.
Yeah, I’m getting the Lou Reed vibe too, especially when the vocals first come in, but I don’t think this is that his music was intended to sound.
Difford x Tillbrook x Reed.
Correct! Other good characterizations have come in so far. Keep on listening!
I haven’t heard a hard-panned left/right stereo mix quite like this since the Beatles circa 1966. Fairly dull song, actually. A Bram Tchaikovsky demo with him singing with a severe head cold?
Tony, I swear to God I tried to find a copy of this in True German Mono but I failed, man, I failed.
If the guys in Television…
– were hanging out ca. ’71,
– weren’t such good musicians (barely had a grasp of the fundamentals, like keeping time)
– wanted to make a bid for post-Beatle pop in the vein of the Raspberries, but had absolutely no clue of how to go about doing it…
– and were recording in much less than optimal circumstances…
…they might inadvertently wind up sounding as much like a VU outtake / demo as this does.
I think I’m with you on the era. I don’t dislike the song, but I’m not blown away. If it’s only like the fourth or fifth best song on the album, I bet I’d like the album a lot, though.
I think it is probably about the fourth or fifth best song on the album, but it’s most certainly the most interesting one for a mystery date
Sounds like a demo. I was really surprised when the drums came in and there’s no bass, is there?
Lou Reed’s re-write of Syd’s “Veg-a-ta-ble Man”.
I’m thinking it’s some new ‘back-to-basics’ project by an Elephant 6 vet, like a member of the Minders.
I just hear many the worst characteristics of Lou Reed guitar and vocal style right off the bat.
Is that a tuba playing bass?
yeah, Lou Reed/VU -ish and somewhat Raspberries -ish.
I would guess recorded between 71-74 for a few reasons. It was the period where recording engineers were fascinated by “close mic recording” with no ambient noise making things sound a bit dull. There also seems to be no midrange on whatever mixing board it was going through. Still, just my observations.
they didn’t seem to get “dynamics” …..i dunno, the chorus seems to be an accident.
“the chorus seems to be an accident”: That’s funny!
Is this ever going to be revealed?
I’d been meaning to do so if misterioso did not get around to it, but I was away and then (and now) swamped at work. Would you or misterioso like to do the honors? Thanks!
OK!! The song is “Oh! Those Sweet Bananas” by Hackamore Brick, from their album “One Kiss Leads To Another” (The album title is in the lyrics to this song.) This album came out in 1971; I think it’s remarkable just how much this particular song sounds like it could have been recorded by an indie band of the 90s or 00s. It may sound a bit amateurish to modern listeners, but this was very fresh and unique at the time. Other songs on the album are a bit more of their time and have slightly more elaborate arrangements, but I still think of this record as something that should have had a cult following among those who appreciate minimalism (which at the time included VU and/or Modern Lovers fans.) They were actually members of the Velvet Underground Appreciation Society. I first heard about this record from a Christgau review and was lucky enough to find a sealed copy in the backroom of the legendary Toonerville Trolley Records in the early 80s. This is, in my opinion, the true missing link between the VU and 60s folk-rock A recent issue of Ugly Thigs had an excellent article about the band.
Yes. What he said! What cracks me up every time is that of all the proverbial people that bought VU records and started their own bands, this is the only one that I know of that went for the Doug Yule era sound.