18 Comments
founding
Sep 17Liked by Brad Kyle

The amount of connections you guys were able to find is impressive. Your different backgrounds, approaches and, in some cases, genre preferences played in your favour, as each of you brought something different —and very interesting— to the Tune Tag table.

That acoustic version of No Son of Mine, though 🥹 Exquisite!

Thank you, Brad and Tommy, for keeping an open mind, for trusting each other, and for making all this magic happen!

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Andy! This was a fun one, and Tommy's eager compliance (!) and creativity was refreshing and inspiring, even....hopefully for future, prospective non-#MusicStackers!

I just snapped....I think we had our first Doctor designate on board the SS Tune Tag! In fact, when you factor in the Bad Religion PhD cat, this Tune Tag was definitely a Tag of letters scribed by a man of letters! And, me? I just have a piddly little BA!

And, yes, as a Genesis fan, I was happy to find all I did on the song (especially the close-up, studio acoustic)!

Expand full comment

Super fun TT! It’s not a Tune Tag until Genesis makes an appearance !

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Steve! Count on me to carry the flag for Genesis everywhere, even into "The Battle of Epping Forest"!

Expand full comment

A most enjoyable TT, and may I just say that Tommy's picture is one of my favorite creator images on Substack!

And Brad, a sly move to include Jake Holmes as a portal to all the stuff about Led Zeppelin stealing songs - every word of it true - and the link to the Music Influence piece outlining the details, which is very well done. I wrote my own version of this tale in my Zep fanzine "Proximity" in the late '90s, which I may update and post here at some point. . . 'thieving magpies' indeed, but we love 'em none the less.

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Hugh! And, I believe Tommy's pic is an exclusive to Tune Tag, for which I'm hugely grateful! Tune Tag loves exclusives! In fact, the gals over in the steno pool can't stop ogling it!

Oh, dang, that's right.....feel free to leave another reply/comment, and leave a "Proximity" link, if you'd like! I'm not sure I knew much about Page and his propensity for purloin, and I was only vaguely aware of Jake Holmes' name before this. I can never remember how I land on what I land on in TT (it all happens about 6 weeks prior to pub date!)...sometimes I document it at the time, as all our notes are written in real time as we're sending songs back'n'forth, as you know.

But, when I landed on Holmes, his "D&C" with songwriting credit, I certainly got raised eyebrows! I can't recall ever looking to see who wrote that song, even after seeing Zep in '70, and playing them, non-stop, in my couple years of commercial FM-rock radio! I guess I figured it was an old blues song they adapted; it never occurred to me, though, that it was an original.

Expand full comment

This was fun. I liked Tommy's spirit, and willingness to just go for it -- I love the note, "The jazzy version of 'Don’t Stop' called to mind the trumpet-infused songs of Days N Daze (I don’t listen to much jazz, okay? Folk punk is as close as I get)."

Brad's selections were good. I liked "Summer Love" and would never have listened to it otherwise. The cover of "Don't Stop" made me smile. "Dazed and Confused" was really good, and the linked article about Zeppelin is amazing -- this is quite a line which feels more than justified after reading the post, "Not to put too fine a point on it, but Jimmy Page on more than one occasion stole songs from his own opening acts shortly after performing alongside them. When it comes to intellectual property, that’s about as close to a physical robbery as you get. "

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Nick! I, too, loved Tommy's "go-for-it" attitude, and his willingness to admit occasional genre-specific weaknesses....so, that's a strength in and of itself, as well as how he chose his songs, and so ably explained his attraction to them!

As for Page, I hadn't really paid much attention to his apparently long list of song theft, but I quickly formulated, this week, that he and his bands (Yardbirds and Zep) got so big so fast, that he seemed to either be oblivious to copyright laws or, simply, uncaring, coupled with a lack of artistic civility at the very least....and, of course, a massive ego that would have to run ahead of any of what I previously mentioned!

That would be a clever compilation album for the adventurous 21st century artist to record: "Stairway to Settlements: Song's Stolen by Jimmy Page That He Called His Own."

Expand full comment

Absolutely, Tommy's energy was fun.

Somehow that makes it more notable that Led Zeppelin is famously picky about allowing their songs to be used in movies -- not exactly ironic, just a sign that in that case they understand the importance of ownership of the song and the performance.

I do still like this story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFDMyiUjoWU

Expand full comment
author

Great film, and a great story, you're right, about how Black "co-erced" the unbudgeable Page (I wonder just how involved in all this Plant is) in acquiescing rights for use.

Expand full comment

This was so awesome.

Well done guys.

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Bob! I can't recall exactly what prompted me to invite Tommy to participate, but, I'm SO glad I did! As he's not a music writer, there must've been something, either something he wrote on Notes, or something on his fascinating "Cognitive Wonderland"!

The good news is I've been wanting to expand Tune Tag players beyond #MusicStack, and this one's wildly successful turn with Tommy serves as a terrific jumping-off point for more non-music writers to join in the fun!

As I'm sure you know, Bob, you're welcome to play! Just DM me your first song, and I'll follow with brief process details and my first song!

Expand full comment

Whatever made you invite me, I'm glad you did. This was a lot of fun, I'm happy to see it out in the world! Thanks again for having me!

Expand full comment
author

Our pleasure, Tommy! Glad you enjoyed! I'm always on the lookout for the fascinating and the mesmerizing, so there's that! I've got a couple other non-#MusicStack writers I'm eyeballing as possible asks at the moment! We all love music, right? So, it makes sense to try and "tend to that crop" of writers, as well!

Expand full comment

Good picks guys! I'm probably the only person who is more familiar with Jake Holmes from a minor hit he had called "So Close" than I am with "Dazed And Confused".

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Mark! Was "So Close" a hit in Canada?

Expand full comment

Oh I honestly have no idea. I heard it about ten years ago on a YouTube video that was “Songs From 1970 That Should Have Been Bigger Hits”

Expand full comment
author

Yeah, its “original run” would’ve been before your time! Your eye and ear for landing on the cool and little-heard is pretty amazing! Don’t stop never stopping!

Expand full comment