Curio Cabinet / Song Curio

It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
 

Pass the tanning butter! While writing the first B-52s' album in 1979, singer and architect of the infamous Rock Lobster Fred Schneider visited a dance club in Atlanta, Georgia, called 2001. Instead of disco balls and light-up floors creating the mood, they had a simple wall projector with pictures of puppies, babies, and lobsters on a grill. Schneider was inspired by the oddness and brought the "Rock Lobster" title back to the B-52s as part of a jam session. The band added surf music riffs and fish noises to Schneider's spoken words—even including dissonant shrieks as an homage to Yoko Ono (who would join them performing the song live in 2012)—and the first B-52s party song was born. The tune spent eight weeks on the Billboard charts, and garnered the band instant international success. Not bad for a song about a bit of nautical nonsense!
 

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Image credit & copyright: The B-52's

Once called "a powerful voice of a new generation in Malawi" by the pop singer Madonna, Lazarus Chigwandali is the subject of a new rockumentary on his life in eastern Africa. The Malawian singer originally began writing songs with his brother Peter, and they performed together until Peter developed skin cancer and passed away. Since then, Chigwandali has performed on his own, raising his voice against persecution of albinos in Malawi with songs like Ndife Alendo ("We Are Strangers"). Armed with a banjo constructed from a steel tin, and a seat that functions as a kick drum and tambourine, Chigwandali plays an upbeat tune about learning to love our neighbors and seeking spiritual gifts. It's one of the songs that made him a star in his home country, and caused producer Johan Hugo (Lana Del Rey, M.I.A., Mumford & Sons) to seek out Chigwandali and bring his music to the wider world—a role that once intimidated the Malawian musician, but has since grown on him quite nicely.

 

Below: a trailer for the short film Lazarus, and a performance by Ndife Alendo by Chigwandali.
 

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Image credit & copyright: XTR Films
 

It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
 

In 1984, Bruce Springsteen was feeling a little forlorn in the U.S.A. His album Born in the U.S.A.—released 34 years ago today—landed him seven Billboard top 10 singles and launched him to global success, but its themes were largely misunderstood. His lyrics for the album's eponymous song were actually inspired by his own tangential experiences with the Vietnam War. When the army summoned him for possible induction, his father, a WWII veteran, was thrilled and told his son: "They gonna make a man outta you." But when Springsteen failed his physical due to a prior concussion, his father grew pensive instead of angry, saying only this: "That's good." Born also honors the unfortunate souls who fought in Vietnam, opening up with magnificent synth chords and cracking snare drum rim shots—where the drumstick simultaneously hits the drum's rim and head. But Springsteen's growling lyrics about mistreated veterans went over the head of Vietnam War proponent Ronald Reagan, who tried appropriating the tune for his 1984 presidential campaign!
 

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Image credit & copyright: Lucian Perkins/The Washington Post via Getty
 

It wasn't hard for The Troggs to earn a reputation as a party group when their hit Wild Thing came out. Though for lead singer Reg Presley, who was born on this day in 1941, burn-out came on just as hard as the partying did—which is what led to the creation of their mellow hit Love is All Around. After a long, arduous American tour, Presley went home to Andover, England, to see his family and unwind. There, he happened to watch the Christian music group The Joystrings perform on television, "banging their tambourines and singing something, 'Love, love, love.'" Suddenly inspired, Presley strung together tender lyrics over a simple, swaying rhyme and tick-tocking beat. For those of us counting, the bassline of Love is All Around almost perfectly mimics the I-VI-V or three-chord structure of Wild Thing. It's a seminal chord progression in rock 'n' roll, and definitely one the Troggs wouldn't give up, even if their unruly days were behind them!
 

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Image credit & copyright: Central Press / Hulton Archive / Getty Images
 

It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this buggy favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
 

You've just crash-landed in a marsh on an alien planet. Emerging from the wreckage, thankfully unscathed, you start to hear the wildlife. Insects chirp, three-headed frogs croak, all while your totaled spaceship emits its dying bleeps and bloops in the background. A choir of green people emerges from the surrounding woods chanting in an unknown language. Hit play below, close your eyes, and you're there.  

For some, Aram Khachaturian's Sabre Dance is either the soundtrack to cartoon hijinx or novelty act plate spinners on The Ed Sullivan Show. For others, it's still a rather joyful piece from his 1942 ballet Gayane, which tells the story of the eponymous Armenian village beauty who falls in love with Armen but is kidnapped by the jealous Giko. When Gayane is rescued by Armen, their love is celebrated at their wedding ceremony with village dancers, including the swordsmen of the Sabre Dance. Like many of his Moscow Conservatory contemporaries, Khachaturian incorporated folk songs from his homeland into Sabre Dance (notably where the string instruments take the lead from the xylophone), but unlike them, his work also included unusual orchestral instruments like the saxophone. Proving classical music isn't just for cartoons and stuffy concert halls, Sabre Dance actually landed at #1 on the Billboard charts three times in 1948, a year when three different versions of the tune became jukebox hits. There's no better time than the anniversary of Khachaturian's 116th birthday to have a tuba-stomping good time to his most popular piece!

 

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Image credit & copyright: Andante Moderato
 

It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this tasty favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
 

Weird Al has a strong message for picky eaters. Born October 23, 1959, the comedic musician took on Michael Jackson's Beat It to poke fun of people who just won't eat their Cap'n Crunch or Raisin Bran. "Don't want to hear about what kinds of foods you hate / You won't get no dessert 'till you clean off your plate / So eat it." In Yankovic's hands, a song about a street fight turns into a sendup of the daily battle between parents and kids at mealtime. Because the song is so similar to the original, Yankovic sought Jackson's permission before moving forward with it, as he does with every artist and every parody. "We’re talking about the most popular and famous person in the known universe, and here I was, this goofy comedy songwriter," Yankovic said of his attempt to reach out to Jackson. "He not only returned our phone calls, but he approved it. He thought it was a funny idea." Pretty soon, Yankovic was being seriously recognized for his very unserious work; "Eat It" won a 1984 Grammy in the Best Comedy Recording category. Lucky thing he got a callback!
 

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Image credit & copyright: Gravity Falls
 

When '60s folk singer Donovan played on the pop TV program Ready Steady Go!, he found the love of his life, Linda Lawrence, go-go dancing in the audience. Donovan, born in May of 1946, pursued her avidly, but Linda spurned him out of fear of the limelight, so he penned Sunshine Superman as an ode to his sweetie. With help from arranger John Cameron and a crew of studio jazz artists, Donovan interlaced lovelorn lyrics with the feverish traces of his latest explorations with LSD and meditation. In four-four time, played in C Major with a guitar capoed at the first fret, a puttering baseline opens to a sprightly harpsichord, and Donovan sings with the certainty of a time-traveler to his Linda that: "It'll take time, I know it, but in a while / You're gonna be mine, I know it / We'll do it in style." In the end, Donovan was right. Four years later, friends of the two set them up at a party at Eric Clapton's, and they married just weeks later and are still together today. Though, Donovan asserts that Sunshine Superman isn't just about Linda, but also "the invisible fourth dimension of transcendental superconscious vision." Far out, man.
 

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Image credit & copyright: Sony Legacy
 

What's this? What's this? Danny Elfman—the beloved composer of The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack, The Simpsons theme song, and Oingo Boingo hits like Dead Man's Party—has been dabbling in formal classical music with the Eleven Eleven violin concerto (a work written for soloist and orchestra). A recent work commissioned by Stanford Live and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the piece was written by Elfman for Dutch violinist Sandy Cameron. Because Elfman, who celebrates his 66th birthday today, never received formal musical training, his methods of composing can seem disarmingly practical: "When it comes to classical music offers…. I just go 'Yes,' and then I go, 'What does that really mean?' And then, 'I'll figure that out later.'" He ended up creating playlists of famous concertos, honing in on the works of Leonard Bernstein and Dmitri Shostakovich. Though, true to Elfman's impish nature, his concerto movements feature uncommon musical directions in Italian: the third movement is written to be played as a "Fantasma" ("ghost"), the third "Spietato" ("ruthless"), and the first "Grave. Animato" ("serious, animated"). Take a listen to the first movement and see if Elfman's fingerprints of macabre and kooky orchestrations aren't all over this piece!
 

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Image credit & copyright: Hollywood Reporter
 

It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
 

It might be hard to believe, but one of the biggest bands in the world once struggled to find its sound. As a fresh-faced group who debuted in 1980, U2's was at best considered derivative of '70s punk bands—that is, until they recorded their third album, War. Confrontational battle march rhythms lead Sunday Bloody Sunday, a track inspired by the events of "Bloody Sunday"—when British soldiers shot unarmed protesters rallying against the internment of suspected Irish Republican Army operatives in 1972. Rather than glorify violence, U2's song expresses anguish through Bono's lyrics, the siren-like violin, and the Edge's unstable six-string landscape. U2's message with Sunday Bloody Sunday was more focused than ever before, helping them knock out Michael Jackson's Thriller album from the top of the U.K. charts when War was released on February 28, 1983. Though the band would go on to bigger and better things, Sunday Bloody Sunday remains one of their strongest rallying cries for peace.
 

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Image credit & copyright: Blurt Magazine
 

In 1987, The Cure stood on another precipice in addition to the ivory cliffs of Beachy Head, England. The English band's classic Just Like Heaven from the album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me was on the verge of breaking the group into the U.S. Billboard charts and American radio. Having emerged out of the English punk scene in the '70s, The Cure's moody songs and dark gothic aesthetics endeared them to listeners in their home country. In the late '80s, however, singer Robert Smith began to take his romantic notions and write songs with brighter, pop-ier sounds. When he paired his framework for Just Like Heaven with the rest of The Cure, who'd honed their chops through years of touring together, the song's pieces fit together perfectly: the dark rhythm section giving way to brighter instrumentation by the keyboards and guitars, eventually leading to the fever-dream love story in Smith's lyrics. "[I] found myself alone, alone, alone above a raging sea / That stole the only girl I loved and drowned her deep inside of me." Even if it is one of the most gorgeous rock songs of the '80s, Smith sure knew how to undercut it with a deep sense of melancholy.

 

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Image credit & copyright: Fin Costello / Redferns / Getty Images
 

When Irish singer Dolores O'Riordan passed away in January of 2018, the world lost one of the most dynamic singers of the alternative rock genre. A year later, the remaining members of the Cranberries announced that O'Riordan had recorded a catalog of vocals, and that the band would complete the album In the End as a tribute to her. Tracks like All Over Now remind listeners of O'Riordan's uncanny ability to tell a story through her lilting singing; as the band sets a pensive mood, her lyrics follow a woman who experiences all of the denial and grief of a domestic abuse survivor. O'Riordan's career was marked by dreamy harmonies and a drive towards social justice within her lyrics. All Over Now feels like a fitting and bittersweet tribute to those inimitable forces she brought to our speakers and our hearts.
 

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Image credit & copyright: Joel Sagat / Getty Images
 

It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
 

It might be hard to fathom, but no one had ever performed the Y.M.C.A. dance until the Village People made a stop at American Bandstand (AB) 40 years ago. The disco boy band members recalled working on elaborate choreography for their televised performance on January 6, 1979, which included pantomiming letters overhead with their hands at the start of the chorus—gestures soon mimicked by enthusiastic AB audience members. The dance craze quickly spread across the country, with the upbeat anthem making its way into sporting events, bar mitzvahs, and gay discotheques. For songwriters Jacques Morali and "The Policeman" Victor Willis, who was also the lead singer, the marriage of campy masculinity and earnest pop melodicism was the key not just to Y.M.C.A.'s #1 single status, but the Village People's schtick throughout the late '70s. Now, music critics can argue for days about the song's sexually subversive undertones, or what it means to cheer for the tune in the fifth-inning of a Yankees game. Whatever the angle, Y.M.C.A. still comes off as deceptively mindless fun—as it should always feel.
 

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Image credit & copyright: Snap Stills, Rex, REX USA
 

If standing up to the music industry takes guts, '60s folk singer Melanie certainly had them. The husky-voiced flower-child drew the ire of her record label, Columbia Records, with ballads like Nickel Song. In an accusatory tune, Melanie compares greedy music execs to gamblers who put a mere nickel in her as if she were a slot machine, chancing she will produce hit singles. Over a tap-dancing rhythm on a washboard, Melanie delicately lays down chords and hums sweet da-dat-ta-das before raising her powerful voice at each chorus. Gambling was definitely "illegal in the state of mind" Melanie was in, and the musician's outspoken resistance to led to her alienation from Columbia Records. But it was the former label that released Nickel Song, ironically enough, in an attempt to compete with Melanie's pop hit from 1971, Brand New Key. Gambling—such a self-destructive habit.
 

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Image credit & copyright: The Sydney Morning Herald
 

Forget "slippery when wet," this tune needs a "slippery when magical" sign. 19th-century French composer Paul Dukas, who passed away 84 years ago this week, knew his composition L'apprenti sorcier, or The Sorcerer's Apprentice, was perfect for riling up a little mischief. The symphonic poem—an orchestral piece that follows a poem's narrative—is subtitled "Scherzo after a ballad by Goethe" as a reference to both the poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe that inspired the piece and the playful nature of the scherzo form in classical music. A scherzo is marked by a light-hearted feeling: in the case of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, a boisterous, repetitive motive becomes a main melody in the bassoons at 2:10 minutes into the piece. When the character of the sorcerer's apprentice gains the ability to make brooms perform housework, he soon finds he has lost control over his powers. As the music swirls higher and higher, the apprentice destroys the brooms, thinking he's ended his misery—but watch out! At about 6:33, those pesky bassoons prove the apprentice has splintered his miseries into smaller, more uncontrollable pieces!

 

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Image credit & copyright: Disney
 

It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this fruity favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
 

No other name in world music is as synonymous with the kora instrument as Toumani Diabaté's. The Malian instrumentalist has brought the kora to international attention through solo and collaborative recordings with Björk, Taj Mahal, and Paul Simon, to name a few. Diabaté comes from over 70 generations of instrumentalists specializing in the kora—a 21-stringed, harp-sounding instrument made from a calabash fruit's gourd, an animal hide resonator, and three vertically-strung poles. Elyne Road, from Diabaté's second solo-kora recording, The Mande Variations, shows off his gift for playing both gently rolling rhythms and syncopated melodies. Since The Mande Variations took only two hours to record, we're sure Diabaté is confident in the musical path he's forging on Elyne Road!

 

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Image credit & copyright: Africa Vivre
 

Few people can lay claim to changing music forever when they were eight months pregnant, but "Mother" Maybelle Carter proved time and again she wasn't like other musicians. One of her signature tunes, the traditional Wildwood Flower, was initially recorded on a hot day in August of 1927, when she and her cousin Sara and her husband A.P. drove from Maces Springs, Virginia, to Bristol, Tennessee, to make their now legendary country music recordings as the Carter Family. Maybelle begins the tune with her innovative "Carter scratch," a rich guitar sound achieved by plucking a song's melody and strumming a rhythmic accompaniment at the same time. The pastoral break-up themes of Wildwood Flower, along with the other 20-odd songs recorded in that session, led the Carter Family to become the first stars of country music. For the next 50 years, Maybelle would anchor the group in various incarnations (which included daughter June, who would later marry Johnny Cash). For both Mother's Day and Maybelle's 110th birthday this week, we're spinning this standard and remembering the woman who defined country and bluegrass guitar playing for generations to come.

 

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Image credit & copyright: Legacy.com
 

Move over Beatles and NSYNC fans because BTS (Bangtan Boys) is here to steal the hearts of boy-band lovers everywhere. The South Korean group recently made headlines as the first K-pop (Korean pop) band to play Saturday Night Live, which only grew their loyal A.R.M.Y., or official fan club (A.R.M.Y stands for "Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth"). Their music video for Boy With Luv, from their new album Map of the Soul: Persona, also topped YouTube's view counter with over 74 million hits, setting not one but three Guinness World Records: for YouTube's most-viewed video, music video, and video by a K-pop group, in a 24 hour period. The tune features danceable electronic beats, a rap breakdown, and lyrics in Korean and English which reflect an appreciation of the little moments between lovers. When BTS members were co-writing the track, they wanted an evolution from their earlier work, notably from the raucous Boy in Luv, which features a narrative about an anxious high school crush. Growing up might be hard emotional work, but BTS is showing audiences they can do it in style, and with fly dance moves to spare.
 

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Image credit & copyright: BTS
 

It's Flashback Friday and Public Radio Day! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
 

Few songs pay tribute to the early days of rock on AM radio like the Ramones' Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? The '70s punk band, who honed their chops in the dingy corridors of New York's CBGB club, completely turned a corner in 1980, when they released their fifth album End of the Century. Their three-chord guitars and cymbal-heavy songs were replaced with handclaps, horns, and a big, orchestral wall of sound courtesy of their new producer Phil Spector. Though Rock 'n' Roll Radio felt like a drastic shift, it actually revealed some of the Ramones' most important musical influences. Singer Joey Ramone was a huge fan of Spector's work in the early '60s with the Ronettes, and name-checked radio DJs like Murray the K and Alan Freed would have spun the hottest new rock records when the Ramones bandmates were just kids. Albeit ones who were going to become rock legends in their own right!
 

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Image credit & copyright: Sire Records
 

One of the biggest hits for ramblin' country men didn't actually take off from one end of the U.S. coastline to the other. I've Been Everywhere was written in 1959 by the Australian country singer Geoff Mack and popularized by Lucky Starr. "Birdsville, Emmaville, Wallaville, [and] Cunnamulla" were some of the Down Under locales name-checked in the original version. A few years later in 1962, Canadian-American country artist Hank Snow put his spin on the tune, changing the Australian cities to North American ones like "Wichita, Tulsa, Ottawa, Oklahoma…." Part of the song's charm lies in the gradual acceleration of the tempo with each completed verse-list and refrain. Oh, and the tongue twisters! Who really needs to map all those destinations when singing along to the tune results in joyous babbling and bumbled words?

 

Below: a lyric video of the Beggar's Australian version of I've Been Everywhere, and Hank Snow's interpretation.
 

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Image credit & copyright: Canada Weekly