Nashville vs. Austin! Music City vs. The Live Music Capital of the World! A Tune Tag tag team of audacious proportions! Note against note, chord against chord, it'll all be left on the stage'n'staff!
Great responses Brad! I was really looking forward to reading your thought process for these above all else and love what you said!
For the record, I actually didn't know about the Alessi's cover of Hot Fun. It was hard finding more than cursory info about them as they seem to be somewhat lost to the sands of time at this point. Its interesting that they were pegged as these pretty boys but refused to lean into that considering what their music sounded like; I think they would have been more popular (albeit a fleeting kind of popular) had they done so.
Thanks, Adam.....for everything, really! You're kind to "fess up" re: Alessi. I knew that, but thought it'd be a "cutesy" segue into introducing it! I, despite having the album it was on at the time, didn't even remember they had done "Hot Fun"! But, when I discovered it thru Discogs, my jaw fell, and I just love those discovery moments (like finding the in-studio "Tragedy" footage!).
As for Alessi: One of my favorite "side-trips," genre-wise, has always been the teen pop/bubblegum arena! In the late-'60s, f'rinstance (I was 13 in '68), I used to read Flip, Tiger Beat, and 16...all the teen pin-up mags! Most, if not all, of the bubblegum artists of the day (Bobby Sherman, Partridges, Partridge-era David Cassidy, Donny Osmond, and '70s-era teeners, Leif Garrett, Kristy & Jimmy McNichol, John Travolta (yes, he recorded!)....ALL of them had professional songwriters crafting sweet, gooey material for them.....THEY, the artists WEREN'T songwriters....virtually EVER.
The Alessi Brothers wrote. That (with their looks) became their dilemma! I'm sure A&M pitched the teen mags, etc, and, I'm guessing they just compromised, and had little problem having their promo and album covers festooned with soft-focused, hair-blown glamour shots! All that while simultaneously screaming, in essence, "Hey! We're serious musicians with original material!"
I've got more on this, Adam, from personal experience and discussions with at least one major-label recording artist. Hit me up on DM, and I'll share it with you there!
Want to thank Brad for having me for Tune Tag! I had a great time, learned about some new music, and in all probability, will probably meet some new people in the process! Thank you everyone!
You can't go wrong starting out with "In Bloom" and that humorous video.
I'm a huge Beetlejuice fan too and that Calypso scene is hysterical. I think Tim and company did a brilliant repeat with MacArthur Park in the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice wedding scene -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr1_pEcYmi0. Hoping there's a third one!
I grew up with Nancy and Frank and with Sly so feels like home listening to them. Dee Gees, Van Dyke Parks, and Alessi are all new to me -- always learning on TT.
So great to hear Al Kooper rockin' his own tune, and AJ's description cracked me up. He does sound like a sad sack with a cig hanging from his mouth lurking outside a pawn shop!
Thanks, Ellen! I'm glad I found The Dee Gees, Van Dyke Parks, and Alessi for you, and it was great hearing Adam's new song, and batting some tunes back'n'forth!
I haven't watched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice yet, I've been a bit afraid to. I loved the first two Ghostbusters movies and gave the latter ones a chance and while they weren't as bad as people said, they didn't have any of the magic. Is Beetlejuice X2 pretty good?
Well, in all honesty, it seems sacrilegious, but I like Beetlejuice X2 even better. And I agree about Ghostbusters, didn't even watch the last one all the way through. For me the magic was always Bill Murray, up there in my pantheon of comic geniuses. Give BX2 a try, think you're in for a treat.
What a great Tune Tag! I loved Adam’s original song. Lovely dynamics in the first verse… and I’m living for those bluesy vibes 😎
As for your selections, I enjoyed the variety of genres you guys walked us through, although I preferred the Al Kooper track a million times over Calypso, Nirvana or the Gees (whichever of the Bee or Dee versions we consider 🤣).
Still, I celebrate the fact there really is something for everyone here. Well done.
Also, cool tag between Al Kooper’s and Adam’s original song, no? You see, everything is connected!
Ooh, I missed that, Andy.....the "This Diamond Ring in the Dust" Tag mash-up! Nice! You're right.....it's all, somehow, connected! I just wonder if I thought of the Kooper song, subliminally (I remembered liking it at the time, having Kooper's album), and subconsciously thought of it, having just listened to Adam's song earlier in the day! Spooky.
Yes, the Gees, whether Bee or Dee, can sometimes be polarizing! Letter rock!🤘😁
Fun read. Adam's description of "Diamond Ring" is hilarious, and it's funny to think of the song as an (almost) prequal to "Golden Ring" (George Jones / Tammy Wynette or Emmylou Harris -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hNrsVZnz_w )
Thanks, Hugh! I meant to mention it in the piece, but that Dee Gees album is winkingly called "Hail Satin"! As for Kooper, I can imagine his autobio would not be missing many names in the rock firmament! As well connected as, say, Flo & Eddie....EVERYBODY knew him and used his talent.....and, it helped (like F&E) that he was a bit of a gadabout, to boot!
Great episode, as always. I was intrigued to read that you’re a fan of karaoke, Brad, and that you don’t shy away from singing “Tragedy.” 😁 Does that include the falsetto, or is my imagination just running wild?
Oh, of course! Falsetto all the way! I'd never consider doing a song other than "the way it's supposed to be sung"! I used to do "September" quite often, too (and won a couple contests with it), as well as the "Easy Lover" duet, with a GAL I regularly did it with (a KJ who well knew the tune), and SHE did the Phil Collins part, while I deftly handled the Bailey falsetto part!
Chest-voice, I was a second tenor (I've been in choruses before, so I was "fingered"....they also told me what part I was to sing)!!! In fact, I discovered my range is right in the pocket of Sting...I did "If I Ever Lose My Faith" quite often....loved all those modulations toward the end! I also did The Police's "Synchronicity II" from time to time!
As for falsetto, Grohl will tell you (and I concur) that it's easier to sing in falsetto than chest voice! I read an interview once, where he said he wished he could sing in falsetto more often!
I liked to challenge myself in karaoke, and do a variety of songs. I used the fact that the ladies would sing stuff from the entire catalog of available songs in the karaoke company's database (of some 60,000 songs)...including "guy" songs, but no guys would dare sing a song sung by a female artist! That's when I made my move:
I wasn't about to "cheat," and simply mechanically (on their machine) lower the song's pitch to fit my range. Ex: I wanted to sing Streisand's "Piece of Sky" from "Yentl"...I used to tell the audience, beforehand, "I'm having a 'Yentl' breakdown!"
How to do that was this: I'd tell the KJ to RAISE the song's pitch about 2 whole steps (I had experimented a couple times to get the right adjustment). Why "raise"? THEN, I could sing the song in my range, and sing in an octave lower than the now-adjusted pitch! Voila!
This would make Barbra's "money-notes" MY money-notes, too (I'd be at the top of my range without straining....like Babs!). Now, I opened up the ENTIRE songbook to songs I could, now, sing, now that I knew the technical "trick"!😎
This was a great Tune Tag. You guys hit tunes I hadn’t even thought of in years. Nancy and Frank…wow. I had Nancy albums on vinyl. I never played them but those covers were great to look at.
I remember Alessi. They were the precursors to Nelson.
I like AJs music a lot. I have a tendency to typically shy away from that. I dabble in music production and composition and tend towards layers of symphonic keyboards, multi tracked vocals, choirs, etc. He’s given me a renewed appreciation for basics.
Regarding the Dee Gee/ Bee Gee comparison I have only one comment. I worked security for bands for 25 years. That involved a lot of different bands. You find out quickly when you travel with a band for a period of time and are exposed to their music day after day, how much you really like it. The Bee Gees are in my Top 10 list of bands I would still listen to for three months today. I know they might not be considered cool today but I could care less. I saw what I saw and know what I know.
That's interesting RE the Alessi/Nelson connection. It makes a lot of sense.
Are you ever going to put any music up on here? You should! I actually have more fleshed out demos, as well as a full band version of Diamonds I was thinking about releasing, but decided stripped down was he way to go, at least initially. So know that I had to go through layers of production and arrangements to get back to the basics lol
I’ll get around to the video stuff. I just am finishing the actual studio and building structure part of my project. It started as a way for my granddaughter to practice with her band and morphed from there. I rented warehouse space, then added on, then added on and am now consolidating. More people wanted in and it got bigger than I intended.
Should have something in that regard coming for you soon. We’re working on a deal with a local college to share the studio for a production degree program they’re putting forth. They’re coming to do a brochure for their program. I’ll send the info along for your perusal.
Thanks so much, Daniel! For all of this! If you liked Nancy's covers, I'm guessing you had Herb Alpert's "Whipped Cream & Other Delights"! I know Daddy had it in HIS collection of 20,000! I know because, in 1965, I was 10, and, while not Jewish, that was likely the day I sputtered clumsily, "Today I am a man!"😂
Alessi to Nelson! Brilliant....never made that connection, but if Nelson (whom I only heard a hit or two of) wanted to be the "anti-Alessi" (longer, blond hair, rather than delicately-coiffed black hair!), maybe their guitar-fronted approach was more than a little seriously-considered (as in "remember that Alessi duo from a decade ago...let's avoid their dilemma")!
I love Adam's music, too! He reminds me of a male Bonnie Raitt, stylistically, and I've adored Bonnie for well over 5 decades...so, that's cool!
There are so many talent-based reasons for loving The Bee Gees (they're a band whom I not so much "like," but enjoy listening to them just to experience their...and their producers'....brilliance)! When I first got exposed to "Tragedy" a decade ago (I'm sure I heard it at the time, but breezed right by it!), and learned it for karaoke, I was stunned by their transition from their disco-focused hit output directly before that, and how "Tragedy," then, was so NOT that...virtually the perfect, non-jolting, smooth shift from that to the more rock-driven "Tragedy," while still hanging on to the importance of strings and horns to punctuate (mad ups to the bros, as well as Richardson and Galuten, producing)!
I just noticed the curious "percolating" synth throughout the verses...synth was used heavily here, to---probably in the place of ever more strings---and, the choice to use synth kept the "string thing" down even more...another nod to making more of a non-disco track!
Thanks, Bryan! I so loved Adam's musical dexterity and creativity...and, I dig his new song!!
When I discovered The Dee Gees, my already-considerable respect for Grohl jumped another level. First of all, I'd love to corner him to see if the NAME wasn't thought of first, and that, alone, is what drove him to the ultimate premise! Sometimes, I've written an article ONLY because I conjured up a perfect title: "Oh, I can't let THIS gorgeous word play go to waste!"-kinda thing!
At any rate, THIS had to go around the conference table at least once: "But, gee, Dave, won't covering disco-era Bee Gees alienate our fans, at least to some degree?" But, as I said in the piece, Dave is a master elder statesman for the music, and he clearly respects Barry & Co.'s outrageous talents, and however hard it may have been to talk the Foos into tackling this concept, they OWNED it, and executed it flawlessly, and if any Foo fans turn their noses up at it, send 'em to me! Thanks again, Bryan! Glad you enjoyed!
Oh wow, another great installment in the Tune Tag canon!
I love the new single AJ and look forward to hearing the album (I presume one is coming?)
Great opener with In Bloom, one of my favorite Nirvana songs. And the follow up!?! Wow, I love Tragedy as that album was one of the first two records I ever purchased with my own money. Didn’t know that Grohl & Co had done that but it definitely holds up well to the original!!
I love the Beetlejuice tag - that is absolutely next level!! And the Carson Van Parks tag - pure Jedi-level tagging going on here!!
Never heard of the Alessi Brothers song but I loved it!! Will have to dig into their catalog a bit I think.
Thanks, Mark! I dug it, too......Adam rools! I'll see if I can talk him into something of an FR&B exclusive sneak regarding upcoming recordings! As for Alessi, their biggest hit was in 1977, with "Oh, Lori," one of the bro's wife! Here's a lip-synched perf of that....you get to hear the studio version, and see them perform! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXbB_h6Rjds
I'm glad we turned you on to The Dee Gees! Grohl's a new hero!
Thank you so much Linda! 🙏 I agree with you RE Somethin' Stupid, but I guess that's one of the things that makes it a good song. You end up liking it in spite of yourself 😂
Thanks, Linda! It was really a treat to get to know Adam, musically, and he was so much fun to work with on this....and, yes, he's such a great artist with a marvelous voice and song!
As I'm in a true Tune Tag-ian mode, here, I wonder if you just wandered, Linda, into a Tune Tag duet with Adam on a "Somethin' Stupid" cover!😱As the kids today would say: "Just sayin'!"😁👍🎵
Great point, Adam! But, here's where I'd put on a bad suit, a fedora, chomp on a cigar, and blurt, "You kids are gonna have a hit wit dis! Stick with me, kiddos, you'll go far....straight to the top, I tells ya....THE TOP!"😂
What kills me (after reading his quote this week) is that Lee Hazlewood was ready to all but fight Frank for it....or, at least, issued him a humorous "threat/ultimatum"! I wonder if, AT ANY TIME, did Lee, Frank, Nancy, somebody at the label, raise a question about the lyrics, or the father/daughter dynamic!
NINE other father/daughter duets that were deemed "creepy"....and then, warranted a ranking?!? Guess I'll stop fretting about the Frank'n'Nancy! I will say the song "reads" a little better when done by (imagine!) a non-related couple!
This one's a favorite because of the obligatory inane patter, as reliable a '70s variety show element as The June Taylor Dancers interpreting the day's top hits!
It also doesn't appear they (or, she, anyway) had quite enough rehearsal as they may have liked. Cass stumbles on a line at least once, and John needs to sort of count down to when they'll begin. I will say Cass had some beautifully different harmonies in a couple spots (gotta think she ad-libbed or came up with them in rehearsal). From the John Davidson Show:
Great responses Brad! I was really looking forward to reading your thought process for these above all else and love what you said!
For the record, I actually didn't know about the Alessi's cover of Hot Fun. It was hard finding more than cursory info about them as they seem to be somewhat lost to the sands of time at this point. Its interesting that they were pegged as these pretty boys but refused to lean into that considering what their music sounded like; I think they would have been more popular (albeit a fleeting kind of popular) had they done so.
Thanks, Adam.....for everything, really! You're kind to "fess up" re: Alessi. I knew that, but thought it'd be a "cutesy" segue into introducing it! I, despite having the album it was on at the time, didn't even remember they had done "Hot Fun"! But, when I discovered it thru Discogs, my jaw fell, and I just love those discovery moments (like finding the in-studio "Tragedy" footage!).
As for Alessi: One of my favorite "side-trips," genre-wise, has always been the teen pop/bubblegum arena! In the late-'60s, f'rinstance (I was 13 in '68), I used to read Flip, Tiger Beat, and 16...all the teen pin-up mags! Most, if not all, of the bubblegum artists of the day (Bobby Sherman, Partridges, Partridge-era David Cassidy, Donny Osmond, and '70s-era teeners, Leif Garrett, Kristy & Jimmy McNichol, John Travolta (yes, he recorded!)....ALL of them had professional songwriters crafting sweet, gooey material for them.....THEY, the artists WEREN'T songwriters....virtually EVER.
The Alessi Brothers wrote. That (with their looks) became their dilemma! I'm sure A&M pitched the teen mags, etc, and, I'm guessing they just compromised, and had little problem having their promo and album covers festooned with soft-focused, hair-blown glamour shots! All that while simultaneously screaming, in essence, "Hey! We're serious musicians with original material!"
I've got more on this, Adam, from personal experience and discussions with at least one major-label recording artist. Hit me up on DM, and I'll share it with you there!
You know we'll be talking about it via DM at some point lol!
Thank you so much Andres! ☺️ And now you got me thinking I need to do a Diamond mashup lol!
There goes Adam....shine on, you crazy Diamond!💎🌟🎸🎙
Oh man that's another one! I went on a Pink Floyd spree last year and man is that a great song. Also 'Diamonds & Pearls' by Prince!
Want to thank Brad for having me for Tune Tag! I had a great time, learned about some new music, and in all probability, will probably meet some new people in the process! Thank you everyone!
You can't go wrong starting out with "In Bloom" and that humorous video.
I'm a huge Beetlejuice fan too and that Calypso scene is hysterical. I think Tim and company did a brilliant repeat with MacArthur Park in the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice wedding scene -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr1_pEcYmi0. Hoping there's a third one!
I grew up with Nancy and Frank and with Sly so feels like home listening to them. Dee Gees, Van Dyke Parks, and Alessi are all new to me -- always learning on TT.
So great to hear Al Kooper rockin' his own tune, and AJ's description cracked me up. He does sound like a sad sack with a cig hanging from his mouth lurking outside a pawn shop!
Really fun tune tag, guys.
Thanks, Ellen! I'm glad I found The Dee Gees, Van Dyke Parks, and Alessi for you, and it was great hearing Adam's new song, and batting some tunes back'n'forth!
Yes, love his new song.
I haven't watched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice yet, I've been a bit afraid to. I loved the first two Ghostbusters movies and gave the latter ones a chance and while they weren't as bad as people said, they didn't have any of the magic. Is Beetlejuice X2 pretty good?
Well, in all honesty, it seems sacrilegious, but I like Beetlejuice X2 even better. And I agree about Ghostbusters, didn't even watch the last one all the way through. For me the magic was always Bill Murray, up there in my pantheon of comic geniuses. Give BX2 a try, think you're in for a treat.
Guess I'll have to put that one on my list!
What a great Tune Tag! I loved Adam’s original song. Lovely dynamics in the first verse… and I’m living for those bluesy vibes 😎
As for your selections, I enjoyed the variety of genres you guys walked us through, although I preferred the Al Kooper track a million times over Calypso, Nirvana or the Gees (whichever of the Bee or Dee versions we consider 🤣).
Still, I celebrate the fact there really is something for everyone here. Well done.
Also, cool tag between Al Kooper’s and Adam’s original song, no? You see, everything is connected!
Great work, guys!
Ooh, I missed that, Andy.....the "This Diamond Ring in the Dust" Tag mash-up! Nice! You're right.....it's all, somehow, connected! I just wonder if I thought of the Kooper song, subliminally (I remembered liking it at the time, having Kooper's album), and subconsciously thought of it, having just listened to Adam's song earlier in the day! Spooky.
Yes, the Gees, whether Bee or Dee, can sometimes be polarizing! Letter rock!🤘😁
Thanks, Andy!
Crazy how you Tune Tags subconsciously, even in your sleep!
Yes, there is definitely a place and time for the Gees. Dance floor, a couple of drinks in, and a celebratory mood? Why not.
But sober on a random weekday morning? I’d pass 😂 and I suspect many others would pass too!
Huge respect for them and what they achieved for disco/dance music, though. That goes without saying!
Yes, Tune Tags in my sleep....my blessing and my curse!🤣
Time'n'place, certainly, for various types of music!
Fun read. Adam's description of "Diamond Ring" is hilarious, and it's funny to think of the song as an (almost) prequal to "Golden Ring" (George Jones / Tammy Wynette or Emmylou Harris -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hNrsVZnz_w )
Nice tag, there, Nick! Makes me think/remember that C/W has a lot of songs about rings.... golden, wedding, and otherwise!
Something about Al Kooper's performance there just put that picture in my mind 😂
💥💥
Excellent TT! I knew nothing about the Dee Gees LOL, and I always like to see Al Kooper get some love. His autobiography is a hoot, btw.
Thanks, Hugh! I meant to mention it in the piece, but that Dee Gees album is winkingly called "Hail Satin"! As for Kooper, I can imagine his autobio would not be missing many names in the rock firmament! As well connected as, say, Flo & Eddie....EVERYBODY knew him and used his talent.....and, it helped (like F&E) that he was a bit of a gadabout, to boot!
His book is very humorous & self-effacing, and yeah, everybody gets mentioned! A fun page-turner.
Great episode, as always. I was intrigued to read that you’re a fan of karaoke, Brad, and that you don’t shy away from singing “Tragedy.” 😁 Does that include the falsetto, or is my imagination just running wild?
Oh, of course! Falsetto all the way! I'd never consider doing a song other than "the way it's supposed to be sung"! I used to do "September" quite often, too (and won a couple contests with it), as well as the "Easy Lover" duet, with a GAL I regularly did it with (a KJ who well knew the tune), and SHE did the Phil Collins part, while I deftly handled the Bailey falsetto part!
Chest-voice, I was a second tenor (I've been in choruses before, so I was "fingered"....they also told me what part I was to sing)!!! In fact, I discovered my range is right in the pocket of Sting...I did "If I Ever Lose My Faith" quite often....loved all those modulations toward the end! I also did The Police's "Synchronicity II" from time to time!
As for falsetto, Grohl will tell you (and I concur) that it's easier to sing in falsetto than chest voice! I read an interview once, where he said he wished he could sing in falsetto more often!
I liked to challenge myself in karaoke, and do a variety of songs. I used the fact that the ladies would sing stuff from the entire catalog of available songs in the karaoke company's database (of some 60,000 songs)...including "guy" songs, but no guys would dare sing a song sung by a female artist! That's when I made my move:
I wasn't about to "cheat," and simply mechanically (on their machine) lower the song's pitch to fit my range. Ex: I wanted to sing Streisand's "Piece of Sky" from "Yentl"...I used to tell the audience, beforehand, "I'm having a 'Yentl' breakdown!"
How to do that was this: I'd tell the KJ to RAISE the song's pitch about 2 whole steps (I had experimented a couple times to get the right adjustment). Why "raise"? THEN, I could sing the song in my range, and sing in an octave lower than the now-adjusted pitch! Voila!
This would make Barbra's "money-notes" MY money-notes, too (I'd be at the top of my range without straining....like Babs!). Now, I opened up the ENTIRE songbook to songs I could, now, sing, now that I knew the technical "trick"!😎
This was a great Tune Tag. You guys hit tunes I hadn’t even thought of in years. Nancy and Frank…wow. I had Nancy albums on vinyl. I never played them but those covers were great to look at.
I remember Alessi. They were the precursors to Nelson.
I like AJs music a lot. I have a tendency to typically shy away from that. I dabble in music production and composition and tend towards layers of symphonic keyboards, multi tracked vocals, choirs, etc. He’s given me a renewed appreciation for basics.
Regarding the Dee Gee/ Bee Gee comparison I have only one comment. I worked security for bands for 25 years. That involved a lot of different bands. You find out quickly when you travel with a band for a period of time and are exposed to their music day after day, how much you really like it. The Bee Gees are in my Top 10 list of bands I would still listen to for three months today. I know they might not be considered cool today but I could care less. I saw what I saw and know what I know.
Another segment of a great, innovative series.
That's interesting RE the Alessi/Nelson connection. It makes a lot of sense.
Are you ever going to put any music up on here? You should! I actually have more fleshed out demos, as well as a full band version of Diamonds I was thinking about releasing, but decided stripped down was he way to go, at least initially. So know that I had to go through layers of production and arrangements to get back to the basics lol
Just do an EP with all the versions.
I’ll get around to the video stuff. I just am finishing the actual studio and building structure part of my project. It started as a way for my granddaughter to practice with her band and morphed from there. I rented warehouse space, then added on, then added on and am now consolidating. More people wanted in and it got bigger than I intended.
All the stuff I'm releasing is part of its own EP, but I might put out a band record at some point.
You should definitely take pictures of your place, I'd love to see how it's coming along!
Should have something in that regard coming for you soon. We’re working on a deal with a local college to share the studio for a production degree program they’re putting forth. They’re coming to do a brochure for their program. I’ll send the info along for your perusal.
I'm looking forward to it, mate!
Thanks so much, Daniel! For all of this! If you liked Nancy's covers, I'm guessing you had Herb Alpert's "Whipped Cream & Other Delights"! I know Daddy had it in HIS collection of 20,000! I know because, in 1965, I was 10, and, while not Jewish, that was likely the day I sputtered clumsily, "Today I am a man!"😂
Alessi to Nelson! Brilliant....never made that connection, but if Nelson (whom I only heard a hit or two of) wanted to be the "anti-Alessi" (longer, blond hair, rather than delicately-coiffed black hair!), maybe their guitar-fronted approach was more than a little seriously-considered (as in "remember that Alessi duo from a decade ago...let's avoid their dilemma")!
I love Adam's music, too! He reminds me of a male Bonnie Raitt, stylistically, and I've adored Bonnie for well over 5 decades...so, that's cool!
There are so many talent-based reasons for loving The Bee Gees (they're a band whom I not so much "like," but enjoy listening to them just to experience their...and their producers'....brilliance)! When I first got exposed to "Tragedy" a decade ago (I'm sure I heard it at the time, but breezed right by it!), and learned it for karaoke, I was stunned by their transition from their disco-focused hit output directly before that, and how "Tragedy," then, was so NOT that...virtually the perfect, non-jolting, smooth shift from that to the more rock-driven "Tragedy," while still hanging on to the importance of strings and horns to punctuate (mad ups to the bros, as well as Richardson and Galuten, producing)!
I just noticed the curious "percolating" synth throughout the verses...synth was used heavily here, to---probably in the place of ever more strings---and, the choice to use synth kept the "string thing" down even more...another nod to making more of a non-disco track!
You hit on it. I did some gigs with Nelson. They had chops but weren’t taken seriously unfortunately.
You describe the “Tragedy “ vibe well. Synths used similarly to what Jeff Lynne did with his ELO project. Plus it’s easier to duplicate live.
Yes I did have the Alpert album you mentioned. Still do as a matter of fact. 🙂
Really enjoyed this game of tag! Loved the Dee Gees - I’d never heard this! Some great connections and links, too. A class act as always.
Thanks, Bryan! I so loved Adam's musical dexterity and creativity...and, I dig his new song!!
When I discovered The Dee Gees, my already-considerable respect for Grohl jumped another level. First of all, I'd love to corner him to see if the NAME wasn't thought of first, and that, alone, is what drove him to the ultimate premise! Sometimes, I've written an article ONLY because I conjured up a perfect title: "Oh, I can't let THIS gorgeous word play go to waste!"-kinda thing!
At any rate, THIS had to go around the conference table at least once: "But, gee, Dave, won't covering disco-era Bee Gees alienate our fans, at least to some degree?" But, as I said in the piece, Dave is a master elder statesman for the music, and he clearly respects Barry & Co.'s outrageous talents, and however hard it may have been to talk the Foos into tackling this concept, they OWNED it, and executed it flawlessly, and if any Foo fans turn their noses up at it, send 'em to me! Thanks again, Bryan! Glad you enjoyed!
Oh wow, another great installment in the Tune Tag canon!
I love the new single AJ and look forward to hearing the album (I presume one is coming?)
Great opener with In Bloom, one of my favorite Nirvana songs. And the follow up!?! Wow, I love Tragedy as that album was one of the first two records I ever purchased with my own money. Didn’t know that Grohl & Co had done that but it definitely holds up well to the original!!
I love the Beetlejuice tag - that is absolutely next level!! And the Carson Van Parks tag - pure Jedi-level tagging going on here!!
Never heard of the Alessi Brothers song but I loved it!! Will have to dig into their catalog a bit I think.
Thanks, Mark! I dug it, too......Adam rools! I'll see if I can talk him into something of an FR&B exclusive sneak regarding upcoming recordings! As for Alessi, their biggest hit was in 1977, with "Oh, Lori," one of the bro's wife! Here's a lip-synched perf of that....you get to hear the studio version, and see them perform! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXbB_h6Rjds
I'm glad we turned you on to The Dee Gees! Grohl's a new hero!
Thank you so much Linda! 🙏 I agree with you RE Somethin' Stupid, but I guess that's one of the things that makes it a good song. You end up liking it in spite of yourself 😂
Thanks, Linda! It was really a treat to get to know Adam, musically, and he was so much fun to work with on this....and, yes, he's such a great artist with a marvelous voice and song!
As I'm in a true Tune Tag-ian mode, here, I wonder if you just wandered, Linda, into a Tune Tag duet with Adam on a "Somethin' Stupid" cover!😱As the kids today would say: "Just sayin'!"😁👍🎵
That would be hilarious, two people who don't have a lot of love for the song covering it 😂
Great point, Adam! But, here's where I'd put on a bad suit, a fedora, chomp on a cigar, and blurt, "You kids are gonna have a hit wit dis! Stick with me, kiddos, you'll go far....straight to the top, I tells ya....THE TOP!"😂
Don't you threaten me with a good time Linda 😂
I had the same thought RE a father and daughter singing that song lol
You're a good sport, Linda! When it hit my brain, I couldn't resist!😉
That's funny. I hadn't heard "something stupid" before and I kept thinking, "I really like the song, but it's a little weird."
What kills me (after reading his quote this week) is that Lee Hazlewood was ready to all but fight Frank for it....or, at least, issued him a humorous "threat/ultimatum"! I wonder if, AT ANY TIME, did Lee, Frank, Nancy, somebody at the label, raise a question about the lyrics, or the father/daughter dynamic!
It was a different time . . .
It's a great question. Googling, I see that it tops VH1's list of "10 creepiest father-daughter duets" -- https://www.vh1.com/news/ow8o8g/creepiest-father-daughter-duets
Wowwww that list... 🤔
NINE other father/daughter duets that were deemed "creepy"....and then, warranted a ranking?!? Guess I'll stop fretting about the Frank'n'Nancy! I will say the song "reads" a little better when done by (imagine!) a non-related couple!
This one's a favorite because of the obligatory inane patter, as reliable a '70s variety show element as The June Taylor Dancers interpreting the day's top hits!
It also doesn't appear they (or, she, anyway) had quite enough rehearsal as they may have liked. Cass stumbles on a line at least once, and John needs to sort of count down to when they'll begin. I will say Cass had some beautifully different harmonies in a couple spots (gotta think she ad-libbed or came up with them in rehearsal). From the John Davidson Show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KJFrXnOj7Q
Ah, the yin and the yang of the Tune Tag! As Rodgers & Hammerstein once wrote, in song, “It’s a puzzlement!” But, a good one!😁👍🎼