He was the alt-rock pin up boy, the slacker who proved he could write a mean hook, a man who made great music but never seemed to quite grab the brass ring. Evan Dando led The Lemonheads, who slowly but surely cleaned up a scruffy sound, and became a major presence on the airwaves with songs like “It’s A Shame About Ray” and “Into Your Arms”. Alas, Dando couldn’t sustain the momentum, but he is still out there touring, even guesting with the reformed MC5 a few years ago. Let’s wish a happy birthday to Evan by grabbing your iPod, hitting shuffle, and sharing the first 10 songs that come up.
The Who — Amazing Journey (Tommy): As a rock opera, I’m not entirely sold on its story, since it is not only somewhat incoherent, but, at times, it’s pretty stupid. But that doesn’t mean that it didn’t yield lots of great music and represent, for both good and bad, a major influence on rock music. Of course, this album inspired tons of concept albums, and The Who really began to move into a new sound that helped define arena rock. On this tune, Townshend came up with a melody and soundscape that evokes unlimited space, which is perfect for the lyrics of this song.
Julie Grant — Lonely Without You (You Can Be Wrong About The Boys): This is a slice of British ’60s girl pop, from a swell compilation. Some of this stuff, like this song, really has nothing to do with rock music in the slightest. This is just a dramatic, orchestrated pop song, that could have been done by any pop chanteuse of the ’50s. The difference is the neo-Spector production techniques.
Neil Finn — Truth (Try Whistling This): A low-key song from Finn’s solo debut. I’ve always enjoyed this album because of Finn’s use of electronics. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a dance album. But he uses keyboards and electronic percussion in tandem with the usual instruments to create some smart, textured pop songs. This song has a particularly strong vocal performance.
Roy Wood — Look Through The Eyes Of A Fool (Mustard): During the waning days of The Move, Roy Wood showed that he was reverting back to a ’50s trad rock ‘n’ roller. Nevertheless, he spent some time in Electric Light Orchestra, before leaving to pursue what was really floating his boat. His subsequent solo records evoked both ’50s rock and aspects of the early Beach Boys and girl groups. This is one of the best examples of this, a sublime slice of retro pop-rock.
The Yardbirds — Happenings Ten Years Time Ago (Ultimate): A great slice of psychedelic rock, with the requisite great guitar work. There are Eastern accents on this song, mixed with a great descending guitar riff. I’m guessing that Jeff Beck is playing the main riff with support from Jimmy Page, but it’s just as likely that I’m wrong. The freak out guitar solo in the middle is pretty awesome.
Johnny Cash — Dark as a Dungeon (The Legend): A folk song executed in classic Johnny Cash fashion. Well, the guitar and simple rhythm is pure Cash. The producers add some backing vocals and horn accompaniment. The horns have a disembodied quality that is unexpected, but adds a nice quality to the track.
The Stooges — We Will Fall (The Stooges): The debut album from The Stooges shows a band that innovated through sheer power and the courage to not merely confine themselves to the dictates of what a primal rock song could be. But it wasn’t all hammer and tongs and power chords and dissonance. This song is simply a lengthy dirge, in the vein of The Doors’ “The End”, without the Oedipal drama.
The Joel Plaskett Emergency — True Patriot Love (Down At The Kyber): Plaskett is a Canadian singer whose genial pop songs have a bit of a pub rock vibe to them. This is my favorite of his songs, which takes builds a hook around a key phrase from the Canadian national anthem. Musically, this song falls somewhere between Nick Lowe and early Tom Petty, with clever lyrics and some neat rhymes and turns of phrase.
The Waterboys — Fisherman’s Blues (Fisherman’s Blues): On this album, The Waterboys starting adding traditional Irish and English albums into their music, while still retaining that big, cinematic sound. This song has an expansive melody that seems ideal for playing behind a film of verdant hills in Ireland. In fact, I think it was used for this purpose in a Janeane Garafalo film.
Team Rockit — Teenage Queen (The Lowest Point In Rock ‘n’ Roll History): A crunchy riff-rocker from this Chicago band whose drummer has manned the skins for The Poster Children. This song sits somewhere along the spectrum between Urge Overkill and Queens Of The Stone Age, smart guys playing dumb rock ‘n’ roll because it sounds cool. And this song certainly sounds cool.