Mike Bennett writesJanuary 20, 2012 iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Paul Stanley Edition

There are many great frontmen in rock history, but how many have a bootleg CD that is comprised solely of bits of stage patter? Yes, Paul Stanley of KISS has put a stamp on rock ‘n’ roll through the look and pageantry of KISS concerts, penning some rock classics, and showing an indefatigable love for rousing crowds of thousands all over the world. The success of KISS was not a given, as many in the rock community did not take their cartoonish make up and image seriously. But Stanley and Gene Simmons were committed to their vision and made it succeed. And they had fun while doing it. Let’s pay tribute to Mr. Stanley by grabbing your iPod or MP3 player, hitting shuffle, and sharing the first 10 songs that come up.

1. Ride — Nowhere (Nowhere): One of the greatest of the original crop of shoegazer bands. Ride was rooted in ’60s sounds, especially psychedelia, and then added more modern guitar approaches, sometimes exploding in fury. This is more of a slow burner, from their first full length album.
2. Def Leppard — Hellraiser (Yeah!): Def Leppard’s Yeah! is one of my favorite all-covers albums for two reasons. First, Joe Elliot and company grew up in England during the height of the ’70s glam rock era, and there are so many great songs. Second, they are true fans who love the music. Oh, and they are pretty darned talented. This is a cracking good version of the Sweet song.
3. Oneida — Up With People (Happy New Year): This is one of my favorite Oneida songs. It features a typically strong drum beat and then locks into a repetitive Krautrock groove, though the overmodulated keyboards are almost funky. Then throw in some psychedelic tinged vocals and subtle variations thrown over the groove, and this is hypnotic and almost danceable.
4. Badly Drawn Boy — Pissing In The Wind (The Hour Of The Bewilderbeast): Badly Drawn Boy’s debut album was exciting at the time. He mixed straightforward pop-rock songs with more atmospheric numbers, making for an interesting listen. I still enjoy this song, but the music hasn’t aged very well. The production is creative, but the songs were hit and miss and got more in the miss category as time went on.
5. The Costello Show featuring Elvis Costello — The Big Light (King Of America): This is a great fast country shuffle from a terrific Elvis Costello album on which he concentrated on more acoustic and organic sounds. Johnny Cash did a nice cover of this.
6. Elvis Presley — In The Ghetto (The Essential Elvis Presley): This was a big hit for Elvis in the late ’60s. It was written by Mac Davis, and yes it’s cheesy and fairly simplistic, but it was well intentioned. And Elvis sings the hell out of it.
7. Danny Wilson — The Second Summer Of Love (Be Bop Moptop): A great song from the underrated second album from the UK band who had an international hit with “Mary’s Prayer”. Danny Wilson was simply a smart pop band with intelligent lyrics and a way with a melody. Their music was rooted in ’60s and ’70s AM pop, but added a veneer of sophistication that kept things from being overly cheesy.
8. Beck — Sexx Laws (Midnight Vultures): This is one of my favorite Beck albums, as he really dives into R & B and funk, while remaining, at all times, Beck. What I love about the album is that his lyrics may be as offbeat as ever, at times downright silly, but the music he creates is very respectful of the past, with Beck throwing in some modern twists. This was a single and deservedly so, with a great chorus.
9. The Living End — Growing Up (Falling Down): I really liked this punk band with a bit of a rockabilly band (they had a stand up bass player). These Aussies could build up a real head of steam – the verses here gallop furiously — but then they would hit with a great sing-a-long, wave your fist in the air chorus. Their approach was so good from the get go they didn’t really have any room for artistic growth, but they put out a few really good albums.
10. Nouvelle Vague — Teenage Kicks (Nouvelle Vague): The French novelty band, who perform new wave and punk classics in a bossa nova style, couldn’t have picked a better number to do. The ultimate Undertones song is simply one of the greatest melodies in rock history (and John Peel would vouch for that, if he were alive), so it is readily adaptable. That being said, this version is fun but adds nothing to the song whatsover.