Tune Tag #101 with Garry Drake of Breaking Ranks: Tears For Fears, The Floaters, PM Dawn, Oasis, Corb Lund, Animal Collective, The Rutles
Lists & rankings are the main attractions for Tune Tag first-timer, Garry, who hails from the central Canadian province of Saskatchewan, setting up this Edition, then, as a true Saskatoon-Tag!😱
Our Furless Leader Welcomes You to SkeleTune Tag!
As we also welcome of Breaking Ranks to Tune Tag #101!
Garry: “A lifelong music fan, I’ve always been interested in lists and rankings, especially in music. In 2020, in the depth of the pandemic, I took on a project of reviewing all 500 of Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” (2020 Edition).
“It was an excellent distraction from the state of the world at the time, and two friends were the recipients of my efforts. In 2025, I decided to share my short reviews of each album and revisit the list all over again, along with Rolling Stone’s newest list, ‘The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century (So Far)’.”
I live in Saskatchewan, Canada, and fortunately my office is music-friendly, so I can listen to the latest album on the list for hours at a time!
Last week, we were washing confetti out of our hair for hours after our landmark Tune Tag #100 with of Painted Dayglo Smiles:
Next week, another Canadian, of Musings of a Broken Record, will join us!
Garry’s song #1 sent to Brad: Modest Mouse, “Float On,” 2004
Garry’s rationale: Modest Mouse has always been a favourite of mine. Their ‘90s indie gems were perfect in every way, but when they went mainstream in the early 21st century, this was one of the first songs my wife shared with me when we first started dating, and it’s always been special to me.
Brad’s response: Rumored a distant relative to Mickey, Modest Mouse hails from the King County town of 40,000….Washington state’s Issaquah.
In January 2023, the flannel/plaid-clad Grunge.com had this to say about young Master Mouse, and Garry’s initial Tune Tag entry: “With its criminally catchy melody and upbeat tempo, ‘Float On’ became an instant hit in 2004, launching Modest Mouse from relative indie obscurity to mainstream stardom.
“According to [lead singer/songwriter/guitarist], Isaac Brock’s record label, Glacial Pace, the song sold over 1.5 million copies and was nominated for two Grammys. Lyrically and musically, it was a poppy departure from the band’s earlier work -– and apparently, that was precisely the point.
“In a 2004 interview with The A.V. Club, Brock explained that he had enough sorrow. ‘I was just kind of fed up with how bad s*** had been going, and how dark everything was, with bad news coming from everywhere,’ he said, adding, ‘I’d had some friends die, and with Jeremy [Jeremiah Green] kind of losing it ... After we got out of that dark spot with everything melting down with the band, I just wanted to make a positive record.’
“When VH1 asked him in a 2004 interview if making ‘Float On’ such a happy song was intentional, Brock explained that he was inspired by an uplifting White Hassle song he’d heard and wanted to create a similar sentiment. ‘Fun songs are goofy, they’re ridiculous,’ he said, adding, ‘They almost sound like they’re for children, but ‘Hey, things are rough, but life’s good’ is a good reminder.’”
“The Greatest Perseverance Anthem of All Time: Modest Mouse and the Story of ‘Float On’”: Click here to view on YouTube if video not showing up here:
Brad’s song #1 sent to Garry: The Floaters, “Float On,” 1977
Garry’s response: Clear connection with Modest Mouse. What a soul gem!
Brad’s rationale: With 27 years between Modest Mouse and The Floaters’ lone chart-topper, I’m afraid Garry and I are just gonna have to insist, and there are no two ways about it: “Float On,” already!
The Floaters, from the Sojourner Truth housing projects in Detroit, formed in 1976. They are best known for “Float On,” which reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the UK Singles Chart, and #5 on the Irish Singles Chart.
“Float On” was written by group members, James Mitchell, with Arnold Ingram and Marvin Willis, and produced by Mitchell and Willis, for ABC Records.
The mighty Wiki asserts that “the spoken verses combine two popular trends from the time, star signs and video and phone dating, in lines such as Aquarius and my name is Ralph / Now I like a woman who loves her freedom and Cancer and my name is Larry / And I like a woman that loves everything and everybody.”
As such, those two pop cultural elements (astrology and video dating) were, indeed, quite prevalent (and rife for parody, as we’ll discover!). I was 22 in ‘77, and working at the large Cactus Records store in Houston, TX, and I can confirm!
One of the more memorable parody attempts happened a dozen years after “Float On” dominated the charts: A Cadbury’s Creme Egg commercial, produced in 1989, for airing on American TV for the ‘89-’90 prime time sitcom and drama season:
But, the musical comedy crowd came out immediately with their own takes on the song, many of them in 1977!
On the kids’ educational show, Sesame Street, an original song was created (“Gimme Five”), but it was arranged and staged quite obviously with a decidedly Floater feel! Singers David (Northern Calloway), Bob (Bob McGrath), Gordon (Roscoe Orman), and Luis (Emilio Delgado) all unite to sing the praises of a fistful of fingers:
Same year, 1977: Enter the clown princes of counter-culture comedy, Cheech & Chong: They actually beat Weird Al to the food-related parody punch (Al’s 1984 “Eat It” and 1988’s “Fat,” for two good examples), with this tasteless take by “The Bloaters”:
Garry’s song #2: PM Dawn, “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss,” 1991
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