Tune Tag #17 with Matty C (Matt Carlson) of "What Am I Making": Rachel Sweet, Stranglers, Bowie, Spoon, Alejandro Escovedo
A TV producer with a cover tune she recorded at 15! A tall-drink Spoon aping a karaoke singer on TV, and a not-Mott Bowie covers a hit song he wrote for somebody else! Surprises is what we're gibbon🐵
Tag! You’re It, Matt!
Matthew Carlson (
on Substack), our Tune Tag guest today, is a singer, songwriter, designer, podcaster, and writer living in Lansing, Michigan. He currently makes music in his bands The Stick Arounds and Harborcoat, as well as touring nationally as an acoustic solo act. Here’s his Summer ‘24 Tour itinerary:
What Am I Making, Carlson’s Substack, is a daily blog and podcast centered around music, film, culture, and finding a life of purpose and attention through those outlets. In the first nine months of What Am I Making alone, Carlson has amassed an impressive array of two hundred essays, posts, and podcasts. Taken as a collective, it is a look at the true value and impact of art, music and culture on our lives.
Matt’s Song #1 sent to Brad: “I’ve Got A Heart,” The Realists, 1978
Matt’s rationale: I gave Brad “I’ve Got A Heart” because it’s a lost song that should’ve been a huge hit. So far as I know, The Realists only released a couple of other tracks. The B-side to this track is just plain bad. The A-side, sublime.
My band, The Stick Arounds, play this tune live with some regularity. We even recorded our own version for our Hot Singles collection a few years back:
The Realists’ song is rock and roll perfection; a compact tune with a hummable verse and singalong chorus. It feels like a classic the first time you hear it, and it’s an old favorite after just a couple more spins!
Brad’s response: A great song I’d never heard, on Stiff Records (and I thought I’d heard ‘em all!).
Brad’s Song #1 sent to Matty: Rachel Sweet, “B-A-B-Y,” 1978
Matt’s response: I figured that Brad’s connection from The Realists to Rachel Sweet was their affiliation to Stiff Records. That’s a perfectly awesome place to land in my book: The early Stiff stuff was just aces!
Brad’s rationale: Stiff all the way, Matt! Plus, I only later noticed that they both shared 1978 release dates. Rachel hails from Akron, Ohio (the same city that gave The Pretenders Chrissie Hynde), and was 4 years old in 1966, when Carla Thomas recorded this original Isaac Hayes/David Porter burner for Stax Records.
In the states, Carla’s single reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 on the R&B chart, and #10 in Canada. A Memphis native, Ms. Thomas is the daughter of famed R&B singer, former Sun and Stax recording artist, Rufus Thomas. She turns 81 just before Christmas ‘23!
Here’s some rare Dick-Clark-hosted Where the Action Is U.S. TV footage (September 1966) of Carla lip-synching the song on a Southern California beach:
Executive Sweet: Teen Pop Star to TV Power Broker
Back to Rachel: Her cover, recorded in 1977 when she was 15, made it to #35 on UK’s singles chart in ‘78. She began recording commercials at the age of six, toured with comic Mickey Rooney, and performed in Vegas as the 1974 opening act for Bill Cosby at the age of 12. On the infamous Stiff Records Tour in 1978, Rachel was backed by British power pop stalwarts, The Records, about whom more can be read, here:
Sweet, now 61, has been involved in writing and producing L.A.-based television shows since the late ‘90s. Among her credits: She has been a writer and/or executive producer on TV sitcoms, including Dharma & Greg, Commando Nanny, George Lopez, Hot in Cleveland, 2 Broke Girls, The Single Guy, and The Goldbergs.
Matt’s Song #2: The Stranglers, "Golden Brown," 1981
Brad’s response: I’m not finding a link between Sweet and this intriguing harpsichord-forward Stranglers song, from their 1981 La folie album.
“Golden Brown” was mixed by Tony Visconti (Bowie), and produced by Steve Churchyard and The Stranglers, while the Rachel song was produced by Liam Sternberg, and mixed by Peter Solley (who recently passed away, mid-November 2023).
Matt’s rationale: It just seemed too easy to keep the Stiff train rolling. As much as I yearned to select a Nick Lowe deep cut or a favorite [Elvis and the] Attractions track, I opted for a more subtle connection with more than one strand of affiliation.
Producers Martin Rushent and Alan Winstanley were brought in to produce Sweet’s sophomore LP, 1980’s Protect the Innocent (Stiff/UK, Columbia/U.S.). Rushent had already done work for Stiff as a mixer, engineer, and producer with other bands and was a familiar face to pair with their young, up-and-coming artist.
Rushent had worked with many of the big punk and new wave acts of the day, but the most intense and fruitful relationship of his career was with the British punk outfit, The Stranglers.
Truth be told, I have never been able to pierce the veil on The Stranglers. I certainly get why people love it, but I cannot find the emotional connection [with the band]. Regardless, their most famous tune, “Golden Brown,” is stunningly beautiful.
Brad’s song #2: David Bowie, “All the Young Dudes,” 1974
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