Tune Tag #118 with John Taylor of Time to Play B-Sides: Todd Rundgren, New York Dolls, Flash and the Pan, Elvis Costello, Yes Let's, Tony Christie, Grandmaster Flash

Plenty of new wave represented, but representin' the rap-sody'n'blue is one Grandmaster Flash, a rare sighting of a rap artist for Tune Tag! Should we change the game to "Talk Tag," now?😱

C’mon up, John! Don’t worry about Mr. Anastasios Q. Philodendron…he’s just there to keep out the riff-raff! You’ll be pleased to know you’re neither riff nor raff!😁

Welcome,

John Taylor

of

Time To Play B-Sides

!

John proudly considers himself “A fan of open-mindedness and progressive thinking, and music from Abba to Zappa, Louis Armstrong to Lester Young.”

About our guest: John first became interested in pop music and the Billboard charts by obsessively listening to New York’s famous WABC-77 in the ‘70s.

As he grew, his tastes expanded and evolved, but he’s always been interested in how music reflects and influences popular culture.

These days, he lives outside Richmond, VA with wife, Peggy, and two grown kids, Sophie and Ethan. When not writing Time To Play B-Sides, he’s an advertising and branding creative consultant (_stratmessage.com).

“Time To Play B-Sides”: An idiosyncratic look at rock, soul, jazz, pop and more.

John: “Now that I’ve Tune Tagged with Brad, looks like he’s finally reached the big time!”

Last week, we were thrilled to host

Chris Dalla Riva

of

Can't Get Much Higher

, as we celebrated the publishing of his new book, Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves!👈Order yours today, here!

📕Tune Tag #117 with Chris Dalla Riva: Eric Clapton, Joe Jackson, Queen, Honey Cone, Andy Griffith, Jimmy Dean, Kay Starr, Daddy Cool

Next week, we’ll be featuring the Tune Tag exploits of

Steve Bradley

of

Musical Chairs

!

Tune Tag #118….GO!

John’s song #1 sent to Brad: Tony Christie, “I Did What I Did For Maria,” 1971

John’s rationale: My first song was “I Did What I Did For Maria” by Tony Christie, and here’s why: One of the first posts I did for Substack (March 2024) is entitled “When Death Ruled the Pop Charts”:

When Death Ruled the Pop Charts

And, it’s interesting how many hit songs in the 1970s were about death and dying. So that’s something I’ve written about. Fast forward to last week, when I started researching the basic idea “UK hitmakers I have never, ever heard of” (something I am going to be writing about)!

I came across this song, where the protagonist is positively giddy at the thought of being led to the gallows. And when I saw the video, with that truly remarkable dancing, I knew that was the one to start with!

Brad’s response: John….Christie is now 82, and in the middle of a big UK tour, with dates in Ireland coming up the 18th through 20th of this month!

Brad’s song #1 sent to John: Todd Rundgren, “Black Maria,” 1973 (live, The Midnight Special)

John’s response: You came back with “Black Maria” by Todd Rundgren. I started out thinking this one was a pretty direct play on Maria/Maria. But, when I dug into the lyrics, I began to think there might be another, or at least, an additional angle.

In each, the singer/protagonist is ready for, or at least willing to accept, death. In “Black Maria,” Rundgren sings, “If you must kill me/Please let me die, Lord/Let me die, let me die.” So, a song about Maria that is also about dying? Check and check.

Brad’s rationale: Maria, Maria….¿Qué hay en un nombre?

An unusually, bemusedly resting-faced Todd, circa ‘70s, sans the peacock feathers and outlandish make-up he wore on that one astoundingly unselfconscious Midnight Special appearance (and nowhere else…ever)! I recall reading something somewhere, several years ago, that he had asked the show’s wardrobe person to “just do whatever,” and apparently came up with that! Apocryphal account, or Todd just….I mean, just look at him here! If this ain’t the kind of grit-eating shin….welp, he got us again! That’s our Todd!

More Todd? He produced Shaun Cassidy’s 5th solo album in ‘80. Deep-dive incoming:

Audio Autopsy, 1980: New Wave "Wasp"🐝The Unlikely Shaun Cassidy Album Produced by Todd Rundgren

John’s song #2: New York Dolls, “Jet Boy,” 1973

Brad’s response: Todd, of course, produced The Dolls’ debut album in 1973. I spent two Texas weekends with the Dolls in 1973, then had drinks with Todd 5 years later. Dare I tell Todd what Sylvain said to me about his production on their debut?👇

Into The Doll House With Todd Rundgren

John’s rationale: In response, my second song was “Jet Boy” by The New York Dolls. This one was pretty straightforward: Rundgren as producer. Interestingly, he produced the Dolls’ debut the year following the “Black Maria” clip you provided, which was part of Todd’s Something/Anything? album in 1972.

If you enjoy Tune Tag and FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE, feel free to share us on your favorite socials, and with friends’n’family! Share the fun, love, and music!🎵 It helps spread the word, and helps us grow!👇Thank you!💖

Brad’s song #2: Dean Barlow, “Come Back,” 1960

John’s response: You came back with an awesome song I don’t think I’ve heard before, “Come Back” by Dean Barlow! This one really stumped me, I have to admit. There seems to be no obvious connection between the songs themselves … lyrically, stylistically, etc. Nobody on the production or management team from Barlow or his original group, The Crickets, seems to have overlapped with the Dolls or their team.

So, I thought and thought, and Googled and Googled, and the one connection I landed on is that The Crickets (and Dean Barlow himself, really), like the Dolls, came to fame in one of NY’s “outer boroughs.” Dean and The Crickets were from The Bronx, specifically the Morrisania section, while the members of The Dolls were primarily from Queens (and Johansen from Staten Island, obviously).

Brad’s rationale: The Fantastic Buddy Bowser (above) played sax on the Dolls’ debut album, and he wrote this “Come Back” song that Dean Barlow recorded on Warwick Records in 1960!

John’s song #3: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, "The Message," 1982

YouTube claims this video is restricted. Feel free to click here to view it on YouTube!

Brad’s response: Got nothing specific as a guess to what John’s tagging back to Buddy Bowser. Early examples of gritty soul music, with these two about 2 decades apart?

John’s rationale: So as a response, I offered one of the most famous songs by one of the most famous groups from The Bronx, “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Like Barlow’s original group The Crickets, GFATFF first made a name for themselves by playing community centers in The Bronx. And the members grew up in the Bronx, just like Barlow. So, we have The Bronx + early days playing community centers. A stretch, maybe….

Mild-mannered and always on-the-go, Steve Goldberg of Earworms & Song Loops enjoys a tug o’ water from his official Stainless Steel Tune Tag Travel Mug! Its sumptuous 14oz capacity will keep you refreshed on the go in a stylish and practical way! Holidays are coming, so shop the Official FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE and Tune Tag Gift Shoppe today! We’ll run into Steve again, shortly.

Brad’s song #3: Flash and the Pan, “Lady Killer,” 1978

Flash and the Pan (l-r): George Young and Harry Vanda.

John’s response: You responded, I think, in a pretty straightforward manner, playing off “Flash” to offer “Lady Killer” by the awesome Aussies, Flash and the Pan.

Brad’s rationale: Flash and the Pan was hoping against hope that they wouldn’t be a flash in the pan, but fate had, apparently, other plans. But, you know the work of their key members, Harry Vanda and George Young, the Vanda & Young who used to be in The Easybeats.

John’s song #4: Elvis Costello and the Attractions, “Let Them All Talk,” 1983

Brad’s response: Both Flash and the Pan (Epic/CBS, to be specific) and Elvis on Columbia (they were, but is that the Tag)?

John’s rationale: As I was listening to Flash and the Pan’s “Lady Killer,” I thought … dang that riff sounds familiar. You know the feeling? It took my old brain a minute to make the connection, but connect it I did, to “Let Them All Talk” by Elvis Costello and the Attractions from the album Punch the Clock. The similarity in the horn riffing is even better punctuated on the 12” remix of “Let Them All Talk,” but I couldn’t find a link to that!

Brad: Nevertheless, John, here are the two side-by-side…readers can be the judges!

☝“Lady Killer,” Flash and the Pan, 1978. Elvis/Attractions,👇“Let Them All Talk,” 1983

Again, that’s an uncannily similar tempo and horn chart (by Elvis, re-creating…I’ll be kind!….that Flash keyboard figure), John! Holy crap, what an ear and music memory!

On September 11, 1983, Elvis did an on-air interview at Dallas, TX commercial FM rock radio station, KZEW (or K-ZEW, The Zoo), the audio of which (including E.C.’s unique commentaries on each song and artist!) was once online, but is no longer! Nuts.

But, the 19-song playlist he fashioned is available on this website (click here), along with links to the attendant YouTube audio videos for each!

Good friend, and longtime Paid subscriber to FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE (and, consumer of our branded merch!),

Steve Goldberg

of

Earworms and Song Loops

(you met him earlier, happily hawking his Tune Tag travel mug!), has come to the rescue, and fashioned the identical playlist Elvis used on that K-ZEW interview back in ‘83! Here’s the Spotify playlist, and below that, the YouTube version, compiled by Steve:

To stay on this page, listen on the red Playlist box above. Listen to the 1983 Elvis/KZEW/Dallas Playlist directly on Spotify, here, but it will take you away from this Tune Tag, and will open in another window:

✨🎵And, for your listening, dancing, and romancing pleasure: The YouTube iteration, (to open in a new window, click on this link to get there)! Thanks, Steve!

Brad’s song #4: Yes, Let’s, “Carried Away,” 1984

John’s response: You parried Elvis with Yes, Let’s and their tune: “Carried Away,” which features a meaty horn riff and some vaguely “new wave-y” moves in what is, perhaps, a pale tribute to Elvis’ influence. Still, it seems like they are QUITE the enigmatic band, there one day, gone the next.

Brad’s rationale: Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley produced the Punch the Clock album for Elvis Costello. They also produced this Yes, Let’s single, “Carried Away,” the year after the Elvis album. This single, by the way, was never released in the U.S.!