Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Ray Charles Edition

This is quite the day for birthdays. John Coltrane and Bruce Springsteen were both born today. But they can’t trump Ray Charles — Trane and The Boss may be geniuses, but only Brother Ray was nicknamed The Genius. If anyone could be said to have invented soul music, it is Ray Charles, who found a way to bring the power of gospel music into a pop context in a way no one had before. Of course, it helps when you have such a powerful, character filled voice. Moreover, Charles freely moved from genre to genre, stitching together American music forms in a wholly original and important way. So let’s salute The Genius by grabbing your iPod or MP3 player, hitting shuffle, and sharing the first 10 songs that come up.

1. Gary Numan — Metal (The Pleasure Principle): When I saw Numan do this entire album at Metro this past October, it was interesting to see what songs got the strongest reactions when they started. This is one of them, built on a simple repeating synthesizer riff, then supported by solid rhythm and warm shifting keyboard sounds in the background. Of course, Numan has a distinct way with a melody, and this is a great song from a very important album in the development of electronic music.
2. Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention — You’re Probably Wonderin’ Why I’m Here (Freak Out!): This is the debut of Zappa and his crazy band. This song is a standard psych-rock song, but there certainly are some instrumental twists and Zappa’s characteristic satirical bent. This song actually has a bit of a kinship with the Bonzo Dog Band.
3. The Fleshtones — 3 Fevers (Powerstance!): A four on the floor rock number by the legendary New York City garage rock band. As great as the ‘tones are, their albums are more hit-and-miss, due to the inconsistent songwriting. On this album, Doug Faulkner of the Hoodoo Gurus produced, and I have to think he helped shape the songs on one of the best Fleshtones albums.
4. Oxford Collapse — Molasses (Remember The Night Parties): I just love indie rock bands that play sturdy poppy rock songs that are just a bit…off. Whether it’s New Radiant Storm King or Hypnolovewheel or Slow Jets, I just don’t get tired of it. So I was very happy to meet Oxford Collapse, who fit in with these other Big Dipper-ish outfits. This song has some really neat interlocking guitars and just enough melody – the pieces fit together very well.
5. Gary Myrick And The Figures — Deep In The Heartland (Gary Myrick And The Figures): Myrick and crew got a record deal during the height of the skinny tie/new wave era. Some of their songs were full of nervous energy. This one, however, is a mid-tempo song that would fit in more with Tom Petty and more typical AOR bands of the era.
6. Mission Of Burma — Let Yourself Go (The Obliterati): A smoking hot post-punk rumble from the second reunion album of this legendary Boston band. While all band members wrote great songs, the essence of Burma is in the sound and how these three players interrelate. Sometimes it almost sounds like smashing together Red-era King Crimson punk rock. This song has brute force, but it’s executed dexteriously.
7. The Jacksons — Blame It On The Boogie (Essential Jacksons): After The Jackson Five left Motown for Epic, the dropped the Five and kept cranking out hooky danceable R & B tunes. Michael Jackson was growing up and developing his music close to where he would end up on his classic Off The Wall album. This was a decent sized hit and it’s a darned good song.
8. The dB’s — She’s Green I’m Blue (Ride The Wild Tom Tom): This comes from a great collection of early dB’s songs, alternative versions, etc. This is a jumpy, perky Chris Stamey tune. It’s not up to the standard of the stuff on their first two albums — it’s not quite as tight — but it’s cool to hear the band figuring out its direction.
9. LMNOP — Never Old (Camera Size Life): Steven Fievet of LMNOP certainly had to listen to a lot of The dB’s, as his quirky pop is definitely in the same vein. Indeed, he has a bit of whiny voice somewhat on par with Chris Stamey’s. This is a mid-tempo acoustic guitar driven tune, with his usual witty observational lyrics.
10. M.I.A. — Bucky Done Gone (Arular): This is the first M.I.A. song to totally floor me. I like “Gulang”, but this tune, with the skittish rhythm track, the sample of the Theme from Rocky and some of M.I.A.‘s best rapping/sloganeering makes for a track bursting with excitement. I fear that she’s running off the artistic cliff, as her superficial political shtick and changing musical approach are exposing her perhaps not that substantive, but her first two albums will always rule.