Curio Cabinet / Song Curio

It’s one of the most famous synthesizer riffs of all time…and it almost didn’t make the cut! On this day in 1986, Swedish rock band Europe was making history with The Final Countdown, a space-aged song about leaving earth behind. The synth-heavy rock track catapulted the relatively-new band to sudden stardom as it reached number one in 25 countries. It remains one of the few rock anthems that isn’t remembered for its lyrics or catchy chorus but for a single, iconic musical riff. Turns out, the entire song was built around said synthesizer riff, which was composed by lead singer Joey Tempest five years before the rest of the song was even thought of. Yet, when Tempest got around to showing the riff to the rest of the band, not everyone was impressed. In an interview with Classic Rock, lead guitarist John Norum admitted, “When I first heard that synth intro, my reaction was, no, this is nuts. We just can’t use this. Thank God they didn’t listen to me.” A riff-less version of this hit would have been nothing but a countdown to obscurity for Europe.

[Image description: The band Europe performs onstage under blue lighting in 1994.] Credit & copyright: Achtung! Adjektiv, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
 

There’s no denying his songs could make you dance, but they could make you cry just as easily. American songwriter Irving Burgie, who passed away on this day in 2019, proved that with his nostalgic Jamaican Farewell. Considered one of the foremost composers of Caribbean music, Burgie, sometimes called Lord Burgess, wrote 34 songs for Jamaican-American pop star Harry Belefonte. Many of them became hits, including Day O!, which remains his most famous (and arguably most danceable) tune. However, Burgie’s genius shines through just as much in Jamaican Farewell, in which a lonely narrator sings about the sadness of having to sail away from his homeland and his girlfriend. The song includes vivid imagery of everyday Jamaican life: “Down at the market you can hear/Ladies cry out while on their heads they bear/Ackee, rice, saltfish are nice…” A gentle acoustic guitar creates immediate nostalgia, whether or not the listener has ever visited the West Indian Islands. The song is considered a mento, or Jamaican folk song, and while its tune was borrowed from various existing Caribbean folk songs, the lyrics were Burgie’s alone. It's a tune heavy on both heart and history.

[Image description: A black-and-white photo of Harry Belafonte singing] Credit & copyright: Carl Van Vechten Photographs Collection, Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
 

F.E.A.R. might be one of his most famous songs, but British rocker Ian Brown showed bravery on this day in 2005, when he calmly exited a performance venue after the floor began to sag, and encouraged fans to do the same. The former Stone Roses frontman was performing some of the biggest hits of his solo career when the now-infamous incident happened, including 2001’s F.E.A.R. The song is one of Brown’s most unique, as every line of every verse is an acrostic, meaning that it spells out a word—in this case, the word “fear”—as in “Fallen empires are ruling.” Many of the acrostics put a positive spin on fear, as in “Forget everything and remember/For everything a reason.” The string-heavy, punk-like track manages to take on heavy political themes despite the limited words at its disposal. Never let it be said that Ian Brown is afraid to take on a musical challenge, sagging stage or no.

[Image description: Ian Brown performs on stage in 2010.] Credit & copyright: Man Alive!, Wikimedia Commons, image cropped for size
 

Here’s an old-fashioned, down-home ditty. American pianist, singer, and songwriter Mose Allison, who passed away on this day in 2016, was known for his unique blending of jazz and blues. In fact, he influenced the likes of Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, and The Who, the latter of whom made a point of performing some of Allison’s songs at their live shows. One of Allison’s best-known tunes was Parchman Farm, an old-fashioned blues song about a prisoner condemned to work on a prison farm’s chain gang. Its simple, acoustic sound and straightforward lyrics evoke classic blues from before Allison’s own time. Though his songs have been featured in movies and covered by rock stars, Allison frequently played at small music festivals, including many in his native Mississippi, up until his passing in 2016. In a 2016 interview with the Clarion Ledger Allison’s son, John, said that his father was happy to keep his music and life simple. When asked by an interviewer why he wasn’t more famous, John claimed that his father answered “I’m just lucky, I guess.” A rare attitude in a world of rockstar egos!

[Image description: Mose Allison plays piano and sings at an outdoor music festival.] Credit & copyright: Mattb4310, Wikimedia Commons, image cropped for size, this image is hereby distributed under the same license linked here.

You don’t have to have many albums of your own to make a mark in music. American songwriter and performer Margo Guryan passed away on this day last year, leaving behind a trove of songs that greatly impacted the world of 1960s pop. Although she released one album in which she sang her own material, 1968’s Take a Picture, she’s best remembered for the songs she wrote for others, such as 1967’s Sunday Mornin’. The song was a hit for both the sunshine pop band Spanky & Our Gang and pop singer Oliver. In true 1960s fashion, Oliver’s version features lyrics about love juxtaposed with a somewhat foreboding, minor-key melody and unusual sound effects, from chimes to distant wails. Released as a single, Oliver’s version hit 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 14 on the easy listening chart. We’re not too sure if Sunday Mornin’ would count as easy listening today, but hey, the 1960s were a different time, dude!

[Image description: A black-and-white photo of American singer Oliver, leaning against a car.] Credit & copyright: United Artists Records, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
 

It's Flashback Friday! In honor of King Tut Day, the anniversary of the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, enjoy these curios all about unearthed treasures. Thank goodness for Lead Belly. The American musician, born Huddie William Ledbetter, left us with a treasure trove of amazing blues, gospel, and folk songs that may have been left unrecorded if it weren’t for his career. “I’m So Glad I Done Got Over” is one of Lead Belly's more recently unearthed recordings. It was released as part of a massive box set of recordings from the 1930s and 1940s. The song probably originated among Southern slaves in the 19th century, but it resonates today for its lyrics, which find joy and comfort even in death.  

When it came to bass, he was a one-man wrecking crew! American session musician Ray Pohlman, who passed away on this day in 1990, was the first regularly-booked electric bass player in Los Angeles studios, in the 1950s. In the 1960s, he became part of the iconic Wrecking Crew, a group of highly-sought-after L.A. session musicians who worked with the likes of Sam Cooke, Phil Spector, and the Beach Boys, to name a few. Pohlman’s work is on full display in The Beach Boys’ 1966 hit, Good Vibrations. Following the release of their Pet Sounds album, in which The Beach Boys deviated from their happy-go-lucky Cali sound, Good Vibrations was experimental, to say the least. The song employs heavy echo, space-age sound effects, and an unusual emphasis on bass guitar, skillfully provided by Pohlman. At the same time that he was helping the Beach Boys make history, Pohlman was also serving as the musical director of the Shindogs, the house band ABC’s musical variety show, Shindig!. He certainly kept his bass busy!

[Image description: A pair of hands plays a bass guitar.] Credit & copyright: Pexels, Pixabay
 

It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy these spooky curios as Halloween approaches. 
They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky, and they've got a brand new riff on their theme song. 2019's Addams Family animated film features My Family, a Latin hip-hop tune that samples composer Vic Mizzy's iconic original theme music with appearances from Migos, Karol G, Snoop Dogg, and the Rock Mafia. Mizzy's original Addams Family theme for the TV series in 1964 has had staying power equal to that of the Addams Family's creator, Charles Addams. The 1991 Addams Family live-action film saw MC Hammer rework the track, and The Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horror" episodes also quoted from the unmistakable harpsichord and snaps of Mizzy's tune. With My Family, Migos and company prove that Addams Family values extend beyond entertaining the ghoulish aspects of life to cherishing shared familial bonds… well, those that revolve around entertaining the ghoulish aspects of life. We at Curious happily give them two snaps of approval for Halloween!
 

Below: the original Addams Family opening credits, which were directed by Vic Mizzy as well, and the new My Family from the 2019 Addams Family animated film.
 

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Image credit & copyright: ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
 

This witch is more inspirational than spooky, but she’s still worth singing about as Halloween approaches! Devon Cole’s W.I.T.C.H., released in July, is a playful acronym that stands for “woman in total control of herself.” The sassy track originally debuted on TikTok, where Cole has amassed a loyal following. After Cole found an instrumental track from producer and songwriter John Mark Nelson, she used it to craft the first verse of W.I.T.C.H., a song about her admiration for a playful, mysterious woman who takes charge of her life. Cole’s demo of the song racked up over 40 million views on TikTok. Cole then released a full version of the song through Arista Records and followed up with a music video featuring a diverse group of women playfully performing “witchy” activities, including dancing by firelight and using a ouija board. John Mark Nelson, who helped write and produce the song, blends a groovy modern pop beat with ethereal echoes and even a horror-sound-effect scream to create a musical ode to witches as a symbol of female empowerment. Mama said it ain’t no crime!

[Image description: A small bottle of purple crystals labeled “witch” lays on the pages of a book, along with several pressed flowers.] Credit & copyright: MariposaCadente, Pixabay
 

A song can’t bring justice, but it can bring awareness to the need for it. On this day in 2019, British rock band Elbow went to number one on the UK albums chart with Giants of All Sizes. While all three of the album’s singles dealt with dark themes like death and political turmoil, White Noise White Heat focused on the songwriter’s reaction to a real-world tragedy: the 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire in North Kensington, London. 72 people died and 70 more were injured in the apartment-building fire, which was later found to have been caused by a faulty building exterior that didn’t comply with regulations. An investigation also found that the tragedy was compounded by fire services waiting too long to tell residents to evacuate. With a dark, grungy sound, White Noise White Heat takes aim at the incompetence and neglect that led to the tragedy, and the grief of the aftermath. The song’s lyrics are versatile, including the repeated line “The white heat of injustice has taken my eyes” which could refer to death, burn injuries, or the willful ignorance of authorities who failed to prevent the fire. Powerful sentiments.

[Image description: An apartment building burns and smoke rises in to the sky during the Grenfell Tower Fire of 2017.] Credit & copyright: Natalie Oxford, Wikimedia Commons, image cropped for size
 

These easy-listening rockers got a little dark on this track. The Eagles’ 1972 song Witchy Woman makes for perfect Halloween-time listening, with its minor-key riffs, deep, ominous beat, and lyrics about a raven-haired seductress. Though it isn’t remembered as one of the band’s greatest hits, it was their second single, and one of the first of many songs that drummer/co-lead singer Don Henley ever helped write for the band. Guitarist Bernie Leadon actually started writing Witchy Woman while still in his pre-Eagles days, as part of a very un-spooky-sounding band called The Flying Burrito Brothers. Henley helped finish the tune based on his experiences with the roommate of his girlfriend, who dabbled in witchcraft. “All things occult were popular in those days. Ouija boards, séances, palm reading, etc,” Henley explained to Rolling Stone in 2016. “A lot of the girls were into what was called ‘white witchcraft,’ that is, they were practitioners of folk magic for benevolent purposes, as distinguished from malevolent witchcraft or black magic.” Well, that doesn’t sound nearly as Halloween-y as Witchy Woman makes it out to be.

[Image description: The Eagles perform on stage, sitting side by side, holding acoustic guitars.] Credit & copyright: jeaneeem, Wikimedia Commons

It's Flashback Friday! In honor of Yo-Yo Ma’s birthday, enjoy these curios all about classical music. 
Before Frank Zappa or Weird "Al" Yankovic, French composer Erik Satie disrupted expectations of good music with a wry sense of humor. Born in 1866, Satie was a part of the avant-gardist movement, which prized radical new experiments in the arts, something he excelled at. For instance, some of his musical notation includes odd directions to repeat a phrase 840 times or "wonder about yourself." When pressed for his profession, Satie once claimed to be a gymnopaedist, or Ancient Greek nude athlete-dancer; the title stuck to one of his most famous pieces, the Gymnopédie No. 1, which was part of three piano sarabandes (dances written with an emphasis on triplet rhythms). Satie noted that the piece should be performed in a "lent et dulourex" ("slow and painful") tone, with a lilting two-note bass line underlying an ethereal descending melody and subtle mid-range dissonances. For all of his goofiness, Satie was an undeniably gifted composer whose melody from Gymnopédie No. 1 has appeared in video games, movies, and most notably, as the primary guitar sample on Janet Jackson's Someone to Call My Lover. It's just like a prankster to write one of the most infectious earworms of the last 130 years!

 

Below: Aldo Ciccolini performs Gymnopédie No. 1 at the piano, the melody can be heard as part of the guitar part for Janet Jackson's Someone to Call My Lover.
 

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Image credit & copyright: Inconnu - Erik Satie, Wikipedia, Public Domain
 

From television to the lights of Broadway! Former Glee star Lea Michele is currently headlining the Broadway revival of the hit musical Funny Girl. The show first opened in 1964, and helped propel Barbara Streisand to fame. Michele now plays the same starring role that Streisand herself played: that of the musical’s titular “funny girl”, Fanny Brice. Via flashback, Brice tells the story of the musical, which focuses on her ascent to Broadway comedy stardom and how she fell in love with her soon-to-be-released jailbird husband, Nicky Arnstein. The show emphasizes that there are many paths to stardom and love, but that even people who love one another can’t always maintain successful relationships. On September 30, Michele performed Funny Girl’s People on The Tonight Show. While the number isn’t as well-remembered as Don’t Rain On My Parade, it’s a poignant song about love and vulnerability, with plenty of opportunities for a gifted singer to belt and show off her pipes. Here’s hoping that this version of the classic musical runs at least as long as the first.

[Image description: A black-and-white photo of a museum display dedicated to the original Broadway run of Funny Girl, including props, costumes, and posters.] Credit & copyright: Nationaal Archief, the Dutch National Archives, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
 

Not every Vietnam protest song was about peace and love. Despite its slow beat and mellow sound, 1969’s Something in the Air by UK rock band Thunderclap Newman conjured fairly violent imagery. Thunderclap Newman was a band created by Pete Townshend of The Who and famed record producer Kit Lambert specifically to showcase the talents of younger rockers. That included guitarist Jimmy McCulloch, who was just 16 years old at the time and who passed away on this date in 1979 at just 26 years old. When Something in the Air hit number one in the UK, McCulloch became the youngest guitarist ever to play on a UK number one single. At first glance, Something in the Air might seem similar to other protest songs of its day, especially the Beatles’ Revolution, which was released a year earlier. But Thunderclap Newman’s hit was more about arming the masses and starting an uprising (“Hand out the arms and ammo/We’re going to blast our way through here”) than about trying to “free your mind”, as the Beatles sang. Everyone’s got their own ideas about changing the world.

[Image description: A close-up photo of a red electric guitar] Credit & copyright: KIMDAEJEUNG, Pixabay
 

It's Flashback Friday! In honor of The Phantom of the Opera’s literary debut, enjoy these curios all about opera. 
Like the main character's Faustian bargain, Hector Berlioz may have bitten off more than he could chew when La damnation de Faust premiered in 1846. Born over 200 years ago, Berlioz's music career took off when he first wrote Faust as a suite of songs in 1829. Given to wild flights of fancy in many of his compositions, Berlioz was smitten with a translation of Goethe's poem. The material proved perfect fodder for an opera: the demon Méphistophélès is sly and cunning; Faust is scholarly and morally conflicted; Marguerite is gentle and beautiful, as represented by the lilting flutes and strings waltzing in the Dance of the Sylphs. La damnation de Faust was panned by critics and audiences alike for its lack of cohesion. Berlioz eventually conceded that his take on Faust wasn't actually an opera but a légende dramatique ("dramatic legend"), a term he coined to explain the literary and musical forces behind the work. Since then, the piece has garnered acclaim as a symphonic work with vocal accompaniments, and as an example of Berlioz's innovative touch with instrument voicings. If Faust and the opera bearing his name had to go down in flames, at least Berlioz's legacy remains intact!
 

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Image credit & copyright: Pierre Petit, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
 

This gives new meaning to “love is a battlefield”. British rock band Muse took the idea quite literally in their song Resistance from their album The Resistance, which reached number one on the UK album chart on this day in 2009. Featuring lyrics about a forbidden romance, the moody, alternative rock tune had an unlikely source of inspiration: George Orwell’s 1984. In an interview with NME, Muse frontman and songwriter Matt Belamy explained, “I read the book when I was at school and I only really took in the political side of it, but I read it again and the romance side moved me – this idea that love was the only place where there was some freedom…The act of love can be a political act in those kind of scenarios, as the one place where the state can't invade your privacy.” Resistance’s sound certainly supports its subject matter; its heavy, distorted guitar riffs are broken only briefly by a bridge featuring delicate, romantic piano—hope in the midst of oppression. Not every rock song can claim to be a decent companion piece to one of history’s greatest novels!

[Image description: British rock band Muse performs onstage in Bristol, 2019] Credit & copyright: Raph_PH, Wikimedia Commons

It's Flashback Friday! In memory of Queen Elizabeth II, enjoy these curios all about European history. 
God save the Queen's party! On this day in 1977, Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee was interrupted by the Sex Pistols. The Jubilee, celebrating the Queen's 25th inaugural anniversary, was a closed-door event, but the neighboring Thames River wasn't roped off. So band manager Malcolm McLaren chartered a riverboat. Just as the cruise neared the Houses of Parliament, the group plugged in their instruments and played their new single, God Save the Queen, for its first live audience. Moments later, constables flagged the party boat ashore to arrest McLaren and most of the band's groupies. The stunt, combined with lyrics such as "God Save The Queen / She ain't no human being," dominated the tabloids. The repetitive, brutish riffs; thrashing drums; and Johnny Rotten's snarling vocals screamed out for a voiceless, abused working-class. Nowadays, Rotten is widely considered a national hero. Sticking to his roots, he turned down the opportunity to be knighted, adding: "Don't call me a national treasure."  

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Image credit & copyright: Koen Suyk, Nationaal Archief, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

This World War II hit reached number one on this day…in 2009. At the age of 92, Dame Vera Lynn became the oldest living artist to top the UK album chart with We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn. The album’s titular song, We’ll Meet Again had originally made Lynn famous starting in 1940, as she traveled around the world to perform it for British troops in World War II. The classic, violin-heavy love ballad exudes nostalgia, with lyrics about a lover’s hope of being reunited with her boyfriend. The song became such a symbol of British wartime that it has been referenced by Pink Floyd and even mentioned by Queen Elizabeth. In a 2009 interview with Saga Magazine, Lynn explained that she originally chose the song because of its unrelenting optimism. “I always tried to choose cheerful songs that soldiers missing their wives and sweethearts could relate to. We weren't psychologists, but we understood that it was important to express the right meaning, and we put a lot of effort into getting the songs right.” When it came to staying power, this tune clearly got it right.

[Image description: A black-and-white photo of smiling Vera Lynn singing on stage.] Credit & copyright: Nationaal Archief, the Dutch National Archives, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
 

It's Flashback Friday! In honor of National Sudoku Day, enjoy these curios all about games. 
In the world of Pokémon, one man's sounds are as ubiquitous as Pikachu's "pika pika" utterances. Game developer and composer Junichi Masuda has created the soundtracks for over a dozen Pokémon games, having begun working with the series' initial concept team at Game Freak in Tokyo, Japan. After lending his 8-bit synthesizer skills to Nintendo titles like Yoshi and Mario & Wario, Masuda created the first battle themes for Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue for Game Boy handheld systems in 1996. In the tradition of Japanese role-playing video games, Masuda gets the blood pumping in Pokémon battle music with fast bass lines, trills in the upper register, and perilous themes in the mid-range. It's the perfect track to heighten the tension in a face-off between Pikachu and Charizard, or during a cardio-heavy attempt to catch all the creatures at public parks and grocery stores on the Pokémon Go phone app!

 

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Credit & copyright: Joi Ito, Wikimedia Commons, image cropped for size