Jun 272012
 

Will Your Mystery Date Be a Dream or a Dud?

Well, our latest Mystery Date sure did have a deep voice, didn’t he, like he was singing from beneath the sea? The song was “You Don’t Have to Be a Baby to Cry,” performed by Fred Neil, who is thought of by pipe-tamping music lovers as a “Bleeker Street folkie” and who most of us young rock nerds learned after the fact was actually the author of lauded songwriter Harry Nilsson‘s biggest hit record, “Everybody’s Talkin’,” the theme to Midnight Cowboy. This number is from a collection of sides he cut from 1957-1961.

I didn’t learn until today that he was a Brill Building songwriter at this point, having written Roy Orbison‘s “Candy Man” among other songs for Orbison and Buddy Holly. Funny the stuff we learn along the way.

In my mid-20s, after learning a little bit about who Neil was, I would also forever associate him with one of the only Tim Buckley song I’ve been known to identify and enjoy, “Dolphins.” That’s one of those songs I believe a lof of Serious, Young, Genre-Spanning Artists have tackled. Here’s Buckley performing it on English TV, which I can only hope will inspire our recently dormant friend Happiness Stan to chime in with a story relating this song to one of his old girlfriends. I’m also hopeful that the likes of the Hall’s Deep Thinkers and Relative Folk-Bluesologists—dr john, mwall, dbuskirk, and even The Great 48 via his ’60s folk-scene bred wife—step forth with some insights into this artist and suggestions for songs to investigate that are as interesting as the 2 I know.

Neil was serious about these dolphins. Sometime in the early ’70s, the already reclusive Cleveland-born, St. Petersburg, FL-raised songwriter would turn his attention to preserving dolphins. The mind reels at what kind of music they made together?

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Jun 262012
 

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/2012/06/Mystery-Date-062612.mp3|titles=Mystery Date 062612]
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May 222012
 

Will Your Mystery Date Be a Dream or a Dud?

For our latest Mystery Date, Townspeople were in agreement on the track’s general late-’60s blooz-rock vibe, possibly involving druids, yet actually having recorded in more recent times. A few of you cited this song, entitled “Sibury Sands,” as a ’90s recording, but it’s actually from a more recent band called Wolf People. I’ve played a song or two by them from another album on a recent episode of Saturday Night Shut-In. I know nothing about this band, and their Web site tells me little beyond a probable UK origin. Their record label’s artist page may give you a little more background.

I’ve always had a soft spot for late-’60s “Sylvan Rock,” going so far as to ponder how good Jethro Tull may have been had they not, ultimately, kind of sucked. I mean, what if Family had been the missing link in my record collection?

When I first heard Wolf People a couple of months ago I first heard the sound of Sylvan Rock, perhaps as it was meant to sound. They’ve got their share of Tull, Traffic, and oddly, Zombies and Moody Blues in their sound. The band also has some bite, bringing a little Yardbirds firepower and occasionally Beefheart wobble to the table. I guess a number of you have no taste for Sylvan Rock, because I consider Wolf People to be the Dukes of Stratosphear of the genre. For those of you with a thirst for more—and for those of you willing to sit cross-legged in the moss and give the band another try, here’s “Castle Keep,” also from the Steeple album.

[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Wolf-People_07_Castle-Keep.mp3|titles=Wolf People, “Castle Keep”]
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May 182012
 

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/2012/05/Mystery-Date-051812.mp3|titles=Mystery Date 051812]
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Mystery Date

 Posted by
Apr 172012
 

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/2012/04/Mystery-Date-041712.mp3|titles=Mystery Date 041712]
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Apr 142012
 

As a bridge between 2 weeks’ threads, may I offer a little butter? And not in the Marlon Brando/Maria Schneider way, although I’m sure the band was referencing that classic film.

This week’s Mystery Date was performed by Butter 08, a New York band who released one self-titled album in 1996 on the Beastie Boy’s Grand Royal label. Members included Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda of Cibo Matto, Russell Simins of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Rick Lee of Skeleton Key, and Mike Mills, graphic designer of album covers and later, a director of film (Thumbsucker and Beginners). But the mystery guest on the Mystery Date track, “It’s the Rage,” was Sean Lennon performing the keyboard solo. He was dating Yuka Honda at the time, and when Cibo Matto toured, played the bass.

I couldn’t find any Butter 08 live performances, but here is their one and only music video (sans Sean):

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Apr 082012
 

This week’s Mystery Date is courtesy of a Townsperson in good standing.

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/2012/04/01-Mystery-Date-040812.mp3|titles=Mystery Date 040812]
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