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The CHIRP Blog
Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Tom T. Hall Edition
Tom T. Hall earned his nickname “The Storyteller”. After playing in bands, dating back to high school, he got his break in music selling songs in Nashville, penning some charting country hits in the early ’60s. Things exploded when he wrote “Harper Valley P.T.A.”, a 1968 smash for Jeanne C. Riley, which spawned movies and a television show. Not too long after that, Hall established himself as a recording artist, with tons of great story songs, mixed in with straightforward declarations like “I Like Trucks”. He carved out a niche for himself that led to 11 chart topping country hits. Let’s pay tribute to Tom by grabbing your iPod or MP3 player, hitting shuffle, and sharing the first 10 songs that come up.
Erik Roldan writesCHIRP + Coach House Sounds Present: Fake Limbs
Fake Limbs have joined the ranks of Chicago indie royalty – they have a Coach House Sounds session up, and they just signed to BLVD Records CHIRP chatted with them about Chicago, their feelings on living here, and the exciting summer they’ve got lined up. Check out their session, released on May 22 over at coachhousesounds.com and listen to CHIRP for some preview tracks!
Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Mark Mothersbaugh Edition
Mark Mothersbaugh was a student at Kent State University when the infamous shootings took place. That event had a profound effect on Mark, his brother and the Casale brothers when they formed Devo. The band patented a brand of herky-jerky post-Beefheart rock, leavened with a great hook making ability, and then embraced synthesizers and played pop songs that often added social commentary and bits of subversiveness. The nerdy looking Mothersbaugh was a great frontman for the band, and is a surprisingly underrated vocalist, with an elastic and rangy voice (and he also plays Booji Boy!). He still sounds great whenever Devo reconvenes, and when they don’t, he composes award winning scores for Wes Anderson movies and various television shows. Let’s pay tribute to Mark by grabbing your iPod or MP3 player, hitting shuffle, and sharing the first 10 songs that come up.
Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Eric Burdon Edition
For whatever reason, The Animals seem to have been shunted aside when talking about the British Invasion, relegated to a couple of songs on the oldies stations. But The Animals were much more than that. Perhaps they didn’t have one legendary album, but they had many great singles and were one of the bluesiest bands of the era. And keying the band was the old soul of Eric Burdon. To be in his early-20s and still unleash the anguished vocal on the band’s classic take of “House of the Rising Sun” is pretty darned amazing, and that’s just one of his great vocal performances. Burdon progressed as time went on, exploring psychedelia with a later edition of the band, and then teaming up with War, jump starting their career, and waxing the classic “Spill The Wine”. Let’s pay birthday tribute to Burdon by grabbing your iPod or MP3 player, hitting shuffle, and sharing the first 10 songs that come up.
Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Sharon Jones Edition
Let’s give a shout out to a soul shouter who is at the forefront of reviving classic R & B sounds. Sharon Jones was far from an overnight success, doing backing vocals on records in the ’70s, while keeping people and things safe, as a security guard for an armored car company and a corrections officer as the notorious Rikers Island. It wasn’t until she the late ’90s that she began to grab some attention, and in the new century, she released the first album on the Daptone Records label, with, of course, The Dap-Tones. Jones’s story is a testament to both her talent and perseverance. And she is still making great records and playing great shows. Let’s pay tribute to Sharon by grabbing your iPod or MP3 player, hitting shuffle, and sharing the first 10 songs that come up.