Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Buddy Holly Edition

Today we pay tribute to one of the great original rock and rollers, Buddy Holly. This bespectacled Texan proved particularly adept at fusing R & B with pop and country tropes, and he shared with Chuck Berry the ability to write lyrics that teenagers could immediately identify with. Moreover, he matured as a songwriter at a startling rate, showing melodic and arranging chops that still make historians wonder if rock would have gotten to some places sooner had Buddy not died in that tragic plane crash. Holly’s influence loomed large in the early ’60s, as most strongly evidenced in the early work of The Beatles (whose name was a takeoff/homage to the name of Buddy’s band, The Crickets) and The Rolling Stones (the latter who first hit the U.S. charts with a cover of Buddy’s “Not Fade Away”), and, most obviously, the band that named themselves after him, The Hollies. Let’s pay tribute to one of the true innovators in rock by grabbing your iPod or MP3 player, hitting shuffle, and sharing the first 10 songs that come up. 

1. Blur — For Tomorrow (Modern Life Is Rubbish): The second Blur album was a revelation. After a solid but vaguely Madchester-ish debut, no one expected the band to revive the great British pop sounds of forebearers like The Kinks, David Bowie and Madness. This is one of the signature songs on the album, almost sounding like a cross between those Kinks and Mr. Bowie, with a wonderful string section augmented the hard strummed guitar chords and the lovely “la la la” chorus.
2. The Bonzo Dog Band — Hunting Tigers Out In “Indiah” (The Best Of The Bonzo Dog Band): One of my favorite Bonzos songs, with Viv Stanshall’s masterful veddy British vocals, which underplays the humor in the lyrics. The Bonzos were a rock band, I suppose, who rarely rocked, since their inspirations came from music hall, theater and Tin Pan Alley, so this song sounds like it comes from the ’30s. But their attitude fit in well with their era. Any fan of Monty Python who hasn’t heard them should check them out.
3. Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart — Pretty Flower (I Wonder What’s She Doing Tonight): The writers of some of The Monkees’ biggest hits had a decent career singing their own tunes. This is a bubblegummy psych-pop song, somewhat in line with the Bee Gees and The Left Banke. This is a pretty impressive composition, with a few tempo shifts and distinct melodies.
4. The Troggs — I’ll Buy You An Island (Archaeology 1966-1976): A silly, mellow number with Reg Presley, even when singing at a near whisper sounding sleazy. The song, of course, has ocean and sea gull sound effects, along with what sounds like an attempt to replicate a Hawaiian steel guitar with an ordinary steel guitar. Fun tune.
5. Material Issue — What Girls Want (Destination Universe): The first single from the second album from this classic Chicago power pop band. This is a four on the floor rocker that was released not too long after The Godfathers similar sounding “She Gives Me Love”. This seemed to be at the right song for the times, as it had the guitar power to stand shoulder to shoulder with the alt-rock brigade. But it didn’t hit, dulling the album’s chart impact, from which the band, and especially frontman Jim Ellison, never recovered.
6. Bjork — It’s So Quiet (Post): Bjork was at her peak when Post came out, and this change of pace added a new layer to her idiosyncratic image, both due to the video and the music. Of course, she got started singing jazz, so doing this classic ’50s style pop song was in no way outside of her talents. Even better, the music sounds right and she layers her distinct personality on top of it. Even better, the video, directed by Spike Jonze, is terrific.
7. The Fall — Blindness (Fall Heads Roll): This song is built on a triple thick bass line and lots of guitar effects. I think this was actually used in the bed of a commercial. Once the band hits into the simple, bass dominated groove, Mark E. Smith goes to town, alternating between ranting and something that actually borders on singing. The drummer gets kudos for putting just a bit of funk into the beat. This isn’t quite a dance tune, but it’s hard to listen to and not move to the beat.
8. Brian Wilson — Wonderful (Smile): This is typically swell Brian Wilson baroque pop, with a sound and style that you can hear in bands such as The High Llamas and The Pearlfishers. While it’s great that The Smile Sessions got a proper release, in many ways I prefer Wilson’s 2004 version of Smile, because it’s tighter and because the age that has taken so much away from Brian’s voice somehow makes it more resonant than ever.
9. Bobbie Gentry — Sweet Peony (An American Quilt 1967-1974): Gentry is the only woman represented on Light In The Attic’s Country Funk compilation, which surveys country music in the early ’70s that had a strong R & B influence. This track has a bit of that vibe, but it also seems to have a slight psychedelic vibe, due to the offbeat horn accompaniment. Gentry sings in her lower register, which is very sexy. There really wasn’t anyone around like Bobbie.
10. Mission Of Burma — Birthday (The Obliterati): A cool Roger Miller composition, with his tense, wiry guitar playing, a slight bit of melody, and a piledriving rhythm section. At their heart, Mission Of Burma is an art-rock band, but they don’t traffic in jamming, they traffic in piling sounds together in a way that’s dense without being overdone. The guitar break in this track is awesome, as it soars from the muck.