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.

1. Mega City Four — Vague (Sebastopol Rd): The third Mega City Four studio album was clearly a shot at hitting the mainstream. Their passionate Husker Du inspired melodic punk was catchy, but just fast enough and rough around the edges to keep them off the radio. So frontman Wiz and company focused on the poppier side of their sound, without sacrificing the passion. This song was a real departure, an emotional ballad, played at a slower tempo, dominated by acoustic guitars with a hint of strings.
2. Bill Callahan — Lapse (Stroke: Songs For Chris Knox): This tribute album was a benefit for Chris Knox of Toy Love and Tall Dwarfs fame. Here is the Smog-meister, in his typical laid back style, doing one of Knox’s tunes. Callahan is definitely guy who makes any song he performs sound like his, which works decently but not spectacularly here.
3. Stevie Wonder — Happier Than The Morning Sun (Music Of My Mind): A lovely Wonder composition, and he does happy better than just about anyone. This is a simple tune with a direct lyric, with Wonder’s multi-tracked vocals over a couple of acoustic guitars. One of many great Stevie Wonder deep cuts.
4. For Against — Spirit Lake (Shady Side Sunny Side): This Nebraska band specializes in moody, atmospheric post-punk that touches upon the spaciousness of latter day Talk Talk and aspects of dream pop. Sometimes, the music is awash in shimmering guitars. But this song is centered very much on the vocal melody, with a prominent bass part. As the song moves forward, more guitar comes in, and there is a nice solo after the second verse.
5. Madness — Rockin’ In A Flat (One Step Beyond): From the get go, Madness showed that beyond ska, they had a strong interest in music hall inspired pop. This song seems to blend the ska spirit, with wobbly keyboards and a lot of drive, mixed with a sing song melody as Suggs spins a tale. It’s impressive how polished and sophisticated these guys were at a fairly young age.
6. Margo Guryan — Someone I Know (Take A Picture): Songwriter Guryan is best known for “Sunday Morning”, which was a hit for Spanky and Our Gang. She now has a cult audience, of which I’m a member, who find her music to be soft pop par excellence. Guryan sings in a breathy voice over baroque melodies. This song incorporates a bit of that song that ABC used as the Olympics theme for years back in the ’70s and ’80s. If you’re into Burt Bacharach or Curt Boettcher, you might dig Guryan.
7. Los Fabulosos Cadillacs — El Satánico Dr. Cadillac (Vasos Vecios): These Argentinians are on of the godfathers of Rock en Español. The Cadillacs really like taking reggae and funk and adding some Latin elements. This song actually has a disco vibe, mixed with Latin funk, and the horn charts are great.
8. Tinted Windows — I Can’t Get A Read On You (Tinted Windows): This sort of supergroup, featuring Taylor Hanson on lead vocals, James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains Of Wayne and Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos put out an album that seemed disappointing at the time, but whenever a song pops up on the iPod, I always enjoy it a lot. The band sounds great and Hanson is a fantastic singer. I presume because this album stiffed that this will be the only Tinted Windows LP.
9. Jay Reatard — Waiting For Something (Blood Visions): I got into Reatard a few years after this album came out, so working my way backwards, I was impressed by how his ability to write fizzy, new wavey tunes was there from the get go. The big difference is that his earlier material is more explosive. Listening to this, I can hear influences of everyone from Ramones to Saints to Wire to Buzzcocks, without sounding quite like any of them.
10. The Fall — I’ve Been Duped (Imperial Wax Solvent): Perhaps the best song on a decent, but not great, Fall album, this is a fun droney garage rock number which is well suited for the accented vocals of the band’s keyboard player (and, of course, Mrs. Mark E. Smith), Elena Poulou. The lyrics are great, the bridge is wonderful and the massed football crowd chorus is a stitch. Poulou’s best moment in The Fall.