I want to know if you feel it too

Dear Friends,

1. Candy by cameo is a one joke funk pop song but it's a good joke. Repetitive, cheesy and clangy the way only a late 80's percussion track can be, it features a guy who purposely shout/sings like a codger. At one point he yelps out "Indeed I do!" and it's hard not to imagine a toothless old man waving his cane upon winning bingo. Last week I got the urge to hear that song and I mentioned it to The Monkey and HE HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT. Dudes with mile high flat tops who wore black leather outfits with giant red cod pieces? Nope. Never heard of them. I'm either more vintage than I thought or really was warped by too much MTV. Word up.

2. I got Blur's self titled CD for free back in the day and I recall being grudgingly pleased with it. I say grudgingly because a) in the photos accompanying Blur interviews Damon Albarn always has a perma smirk on his face and looking at said pics made me want to get a plane ticket to London, buy a giant tuna, find Albarn, slap him silly with said tuna and provided I wasn't arrested, come home feeling remarkably at peace with the world and b) I thought the whole effort, promoted prior to its release as Blur goes Amer-indie!, (Please. A song that includes the ridiculous line, "look inside America, she's alright, she's alright!" AND Song 2, the Hey Ya! of its day but not nearly as good, smelled of cynical, opportunistic, pandering ASS.

But it was good, dang it. Death of the Party was definitely a highlight for me. Brooding and depressed, with slow warped pinball machine noise guitar punctuating the solo party circuit narrative. Essentially the same story as How Soon Is Now?, 'cept the singer's on Prozac and the come down's muted. A D-mix tape staple usually followed by the B-52's 52 Girls. For texture, natch.

3. Finally got my hands on my very favorite music mag, Mojo, (due to my advanced state of crippledom this month, I hadn't had the chance to go to my favorite import mag shops until now) This month and who was on the last page but The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band*! Basically a Vaudeville meets Parody meets 60's Psychedelia act featuring a Rutle, the Bonzo's have an excellent bounce along number called I'm The Urban Spaceman which is one of those lilting numbers that just screams "PASSAGE OF TIME" montage (if that bastard Wes Anderson doesn't get to it first, it's all MINE). I discovered them on an obscenely cheap import mini-box set of 60's novelty items, some awful, like Keys to Tulsa by someone that stinks, but some wonderful, like Simon Dupree's Kites (truly bizarre single, sounds like it was meant to be quasi mystical zen meditation, instead winds up sounding like the best tampon jingle you've never heard and oddly enough, that's not a bad thing) and uber fantastisch Conversations by Cilla Black. Big horns, big lungs, big dynamic and dramatic triangle! What more could you want in your Mersey soul singers?

Bonzos aside, there's also an excellent piece on Marc Bolan which features some thoughts by B.P. Fallon, of current NYC party Death Disco. The man played Teenage Kicks twice on the day Peelie died and I never got the chance to say thank you. I'll just have to wait until the next Death Disco appearance by certain friends o' mine to accost him, much to the chagrin of pretty much everyone that knows me at all.

4. kaitO has a song called Sweet Allie. Cutesy breathless vocals that go hoo! and chiga chiga and slow down behind some off the wall sound effects, like plane landings and space ship waiting rooms. Music with the energy of breathless 5 year olds on tricycles. If you still love D.I.Y. girly punk that defies the current rules of message before sound, then this is definitely the way to go.

5. I don't know a ding dang thing about plans and apologies and I'm so, so glad 'cause I enjoy the spirited pogo with handclaps, Nabbo!**, so much, I don't want my infatuation soured by bad sound bites, over styling and party girl panting. Like an ecstacy via jumping jack work out, this song is everything that I wanted The Futureheads CD to be but wasn't (though that cover of Kate Bush's Hounds of Love is that good), namely fun new wave aerobics. If these folks wind up on my side of the pond, I'll be there with a badge, a smile, a drink and some dance moves.

Love, D

* Death Cab for Cutie took their name from the Bonzo's totally absurd Elvis/Doo Wop pastiche song of the same name. Which makes me suspect those fellas actually have a sense of humor. Crazy!

** You can download this song on their website! yay!

songs to seek: cameo/candy, blur/death of the party, bonzo dog dooh dah band/I'm the urban spaceman, cilla black/conversations, simon dupree/kites, kaitO/sweet allie, plans and apologies/nabbo!