WACKY WEDNESDAY: Just Say Julie

MTV was pretty vapid, even in its 1980s heyday. But one constant bright spot back during the Reagan era was Julie Brown, a comedian and actor.

The first time I ever saw her was a hilarious "man-on-the-street" -- or more accurately "man-on-the-beach" interview segment in which a bikini-clad Julie approached guys saying, "Do you think I'm pretty? Could you give me $20?"

Julie also wrote and recorded hilarious songs that became videos ripe for MTV -- and appropriate for Wacky Wednesday.

Julie as Lady Liberty

Some clarification may be in order here. Back in the 80s, MTV was crawling with Julie Browns. There also was the Welch-born  "Downtown" Julie Brown, who hosted something called club MTV and was known for her catchphrase, "Wubba Wubba Wubba." I'm talking about the one born Julie Ann Brown in Van Nuys, Calif. in 1959, the host of MTV's Just Say Julie.

(And to be sure, this isn't about Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie K. Brown whose 2018 series blew open the case against pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.)

Here are some of my favorite Julie tunes, starting with this classic, "Trapped in the Body of a White Girl."



"My father's out of Harvard, my brother's out of Yale, well the guy I took home last night just got out of jail."



"Girl Fight Tonight"!



Of course in real life, Julie was a redhead. At least most of the time.



Though this 1984 parody of teenage death songs (you know, "Teen Angel," "Tell Laura I Love Her," "Last Kiss," "Leader of the Pack" etc.) undoubtedly was Julie's best-known song, let's just say it didn't age very well after Columbine and all the other school shootings that have plagued the  country in the past two decades plus.

Still I always chuckle at the line "Stop it, Debbie, you're embarrassing me!"

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, June 14, 2020
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
9 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
God is a Bullet by Concrete Blonde
Mystery Writers by Divine Horsemen
Worry by Alex Maryol
Hooky Wooky by Lou Reed
Sock it to Me, Baby by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels

James Hand & Me at KSFR
July 7, 2013

A La Carte by James “Red” Holloway

JAMES “SLIM” HAND Tribute

Shadows Where the Magic Was
Mighty Lonesome Man
Devil Ain’t No Quitter

La Carta by Los Mustang
Oooga Booga Baby by 1313 Mockingbird Lane
You Belong to Me by Magic Sam
Apocalypse Girl by Simon Stokes
Bold Marauder by Drywall

Big Trash Day by The Tex Offenders
Strange Words by The Electric Mess
Train of Thought by The Fleshtones
(I’m In With) The Out Crowd by Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs
Burning Farm by Shonen Knife
Let’s Burn Down the Cornfield by John the Conquerer
She Belongs to Me by Bob Dylan
Gaslight by Hammell on Trial

Eve of Destruction by The Dickies
Indian Rope Man by Richie Havens
Don’t Talk to Me by Hank Haint
Wild Wild Women by Tav Falco
Catfish Blues/I Feel Good, Little Girl by Richard Johnson
Rockin’ Bones by Ronnie Dawson
La Caravan by Babylon Circus
Mean Old World by Sam Cooke

Lightning’s Girl by Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra by Johnny Dowd
Get Down (and Get Stupid) by The Del Gators
The Man Who Rode the Mule Around the World by John Schooley
Time Has Come Today by The Angry Samoans
900 Million People Daily by The Seeds
Lift Every Voice and Sing by Shooby Taylor

Jugtown by Neil Hamburger
Fools on the Barstools by Brook Blanche
One Night of Sin by Elvis Presley
He Was a Friend of Mine by Tom Jones
One Love / People Get Ready/ Sermon by The Neville Brothers
Land of Hope and Dreams by Bruce Springsteen


CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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THROWBACK THURSDAY: He Was a Friend of Mine

Yesterday, my friend Dave pointed me to a brand new video of jug-band guru Jim Kweskin and a young singer named Samoa Wilson singing a moving version of the old song "He Was a Friend of Mine" dedicated to George Floyd, who was killed last month after a Minneapolis police officer held Floyd under his knee for nearly nine minutes.

So I decided to look into the history of this song and was surprised and delighted to learn that I can honestly say this of one of the musicians responsible for reviving this song: 

He was a friend of mine.

I'm talking about the late Rolf Cahn, a longtime Santa Fe resident who, before moving here, was a major force in the folk music scene in San Francisco and Cambridge, Mass. in the 1950s and early '60s 

In 1961, Rolf and his pal Eric Von Schmidt were the first professional musicians to record the song, and the first to call it "He Was a Friend of Mine." It was on their album on Folkways record, which music writer Elijah Ward said "has not been treated well by history but was a seminal source for the folk-blues revivalists of the early 1960s."

Here's Rolf & Eric:



But they didn't write the song. Ward points out that the source was a Texas prison inmate named Smith Casey ("or Smith Cason, or possibly Smith Carson,") who was recorded by John Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1939 at Clemens State Prison Farm in Brazoria, Texas.

Casey called the tune "Shorty George," which Ward says is related to a song by Lead Belly with the same title. (However, Mr. Ledbetter sang, "Shorty George he ain't no friend of mine.")

Here's Casey's song:



After Rolf and Eric recorded it, a young folkie by the name of Bob Dylan recorded it. However, Dylan's version was left off of his first album and didn't see commercial release until Dylan's first "bootleg" box set in 1991.

But Dave Van Ronk released what might be the definitive version on his 1962 album  Dave Van Ronk, Folksinger. As Wald points out, Van Ronk mistakenly credited the song to Bob Dylan.

Here's Van Ronk singing the song at the memorial service for folksinger Phil Ochs in 1976:



In 1964, Bobby Bare took the song to the country:



That same year, British pop singer Petula Clark recorded a French version called "Toi Qui M'As Fait Pleurer" (which translates to "You Who Made Me Cry." Just like Van Ronk mistakenly gave Dylan the songwriter credit, Clark's song credited Bobby Bare as the author. However, the lyrics Petula sang concerned a lost lover, having basically nothing to do with the story Bare, Van Ronk or Casey told.

So just for the hell of it:



The song saw another sharp change when The Byrds recorded it for their 1965 album Turn! Turn! Turn!. They turned it into an emotional lament for the assassinated John F. Kennedy.



Through the ensuing years many musicians have done the song, including  Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson (for the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack), Billy Bob Thornton (who did The Byrds' JFK version), Tom Jones and Cat Power, whose bleak, smokey version is subtly amazing.



But, in light of current events, the version that hit me hardest was the one by Kweskin and Wilson released this week for George Floyd.

"He did not die in vain ..."

If you have to steal away and cry, I won't judge you.

R.I.P. Rolf

For more deep dives into songs, check out The Stephen W. Terrell Web Log Songbook

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, June 7, 2020

KSFR, Santa Fe, NM

Webcasting!

9 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time

Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM

Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres

Street Fighting Man by The Rolling Stones
Made in Santa Fe by Alex Maryol
Got the Skinny by Gino & The Goons
Hubba Hubba Ding Dong by Dave Del Monte & The Cross Country Boys
Pinch Myself by Lucy & The Rats
Evil One by James Blood Ulmer
Muss I Denn by Marlene Dietrich

Clampdown by The Clash
Summertime by Trixie & The Trainwrecks
Joke’s on Me by Mal Thursday Quartet
Stupid Person by Kult
Let Me Holler by King Khan & The Shrines
Take Me to Our Place by Jonny Manak & The Depressives
Topless Bathing Suit by Kelly Rogers
My Country Too by Kell Robertson

Country at War by X
Pyschodelic Nightmare by Dead Moon
Less Bone More Meat by King Salami & The Cumberland 3
I’m Yo Mudda by Ghost Wolves
Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy by The Kinks
Grease Monkey Go by X-Rays
We Don’t Care by The Molting Vultures
Loretta and The Insect World by Giant Sand
Jim Crow Blues by Odetta

This is a Hamell Show by Hamell on Trial
Hit the Road by Scott H. Biram
Hit the Road Jack by Cat
Shut Your Mouth When You Sneeze by Screaming ‘ Jay Hawkins
Crazy Queen by Zvuki Mu
Palisades Park by The Ramones
Keep Moving’ by Freddy Cannon & The Gears
Don’t Touch Me There by The Tubes
Friendly World by The Kittens

Voodoo Woman by Koko Taylor with Mighty Joe Young
A Little Bitch (And a  Little Bitch Better) by ’68 Comeback
I’m Through With White Girls by The Dirtbombs
Ship Sailed at Six by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
In and Out by The Mummies
Bla Bla Bla by Los Cheyenes
Poison by Hundred Year Flood
Come On Up to the House by Oh Lazarus
Ohio River Boat Song by Palace Music

First of the Last Calls by Husker Du
Justified and Ancient by KLF with Tammy Wynette
Yona’s Blues by The Come ’n’ Go
Pallet on the Floor by Amanda Pearcy
I Hate These Songs by Dale Watson
As We Go Wandering by Possessed by Paul James
Empty Bottle by The Calamity Cubes

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

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WACKY WEDNESDAY: Beat the Gong, It's Chuck Barris' Birthday

Barris: Game show giant, CIA assassin, singer/songwriter

Chuck Barris, ascended master of the TV game show would have been 91 today.

Happy birthday, Chuck.

If you recognize his name, it's probably because of his role as host of one of his craziest creations, The Gong Show -- a strange talent show that I loved a zillion times more than American Idol, America's Got Talent and Dancing With the Stars put together. Barris hosted the original version of the show from its debut in 1976 through 1980.

By the time that first gong struck, Barris, who was born in Philadelphia, already had several game shows under his belt, including The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game -- not to mention noble flops like The Family Game, The Game Game and How's Your Mother-in-Law none of which I've ever seen.)

He's also an author. In 1984 he published his own “unauthorized autobiography” titled Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, in which he claimed he'd worked secretly as a CIA contract assassin during the years he was making his game shows. (Nearly 20 years later it was made into a movie directed by George Clooney and starring Sam Rockwell.)

The agency flatly denied that Barris had ever worked for them in any capacity, calling the claim "ridiculous.". A game-show blog (!) called BuzzerBlog, in its 2017 obituary for Barris claims that the late host had confessed as much in a 1984 appearance on the Today Show. I couldn't find any clip of that, but I did find a 2010 interview with the Television Academy Foundation in which Barris is still acting coy about his supposed time with the CIA.

But for the purpose of this music blog, Chuck's music career is what we're celebrating today.

He had a band called The Chuck Barris Syndicate in the '60s. Here's a 1968 tune called  "Donnie."



Here's a much snazzier number from 1980 called "Sometimes It Just Don't Pay To Get Up" credited to Chuck Barris & The Hollywood Cowboys Orchestra.



Barris, however, started out writing songs for others. Here's one from 1962 called "Summertime Guy" by Eddie Rambeau.



But by far the best-known Barris song was an ode to an amusement park that was a major hit for Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon. I like this version by  The Ramones.



So let's strike the gong in memory of Chuck Barris.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, May 31, 2020
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
9 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
I’m Down by The Beatles
Get Down by Lucy & The Rats
I’ll Be Gone by The Oblivians
Zombie Outbreak by Alien Space Kitchen
When I Win the Lottery by Camper Van Beethoven
There Goes the Neighborhood by The Bus Boys
The Acid Song by Loudon Wainwright III

Tears, Stupid Tears by Nick Shoulders
Magical Colors by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
The Green Manlishi by The Flesh Eaters
Dancing on My Knees by The Yawpers
Don’t Taser Me Bro by Carbon/Silicon
Cootzie Coo by Charlie Feathers
Christianity is Stupid by Negativland

Shortin’ Bread by The Cramps
Gimme Dat Harp, Boy by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
One Kind Favor by Canned Heat
Tajo by Cankisou
Black Shiny Beast by Buick MacKane
American Woman by Butthole Surfers
I’m Gonna Dig Up Howlin’ Wolf by Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper

What Would You Do by Trixie & The Trainwrecks
Duct Tape Love by He Who Cannot Be Named
Six Long Weeks by the A-Bones
Getting On with It by Mini-Mekons & Robbie Fulks
Big Zombie by Chivalrous Amoekons
Boodle De Bum Bum by Carolina Chocolate Drops
She’s Fine, She’s Mine by The Pretty Things
Nagazsaki by Cab Calloway

Hot Tamale Baby by Buckwheat Zydeco
Amos Moses by Primus
Bad Man by The Electric Mess
Masturbation Blues by Candye Kane
Fighting’ Side of Me by Bryan & The Haggards with Dr. Eugene Chadbourne
Cyrano deBerger’s Back by X
On Broadway by Neil Young
Wooden Heart by Brave Combo

Goon Squad by Elvis Costello
I Got Mine by Dan Hick & The Hot Licks
Drinkin’ Thing by Gary Stewart
That’s How I Got to Memphis by Solomon Burke
Good Bread Alley by Carl Hancock Rux
The Donor by Judee Sill

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Want to keep the party going after I sign off at midnight?
Go to The Big Enchilada Podcast which has hours and hours of music like this.

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THROWBACK THURSDAY: Happy Birthday Gary Stewart

Honky-tonk crooner Gary Stewart, one of the strongest new voices on country radio in the mid 1970s, would have been 75 today. 

Happy birthday, Gary!

Born in Kentucky, Stewart's family moved to Florida when he was a teen. He started playing in country and rock 'n' roll bands and writing songs. 

Stewart had a high, soulful voice with a tremolo that couldn't help but pierce your heart. It's on full display in his best known for two songs, both sung from the perspective of a cuckolded alcoholic.

The first, from late 1973, was called "Drinkin' Thing."

A few months later, he followed this with a song with an only-in-country-music title: "She's Acting Single, (I'm Drinking Doubles)."

Stewart didn't write these. They were penned by Wayne Carson, who also wrote The Box Tops' "The Letter" as well as "Always on My Mind," recorded by both Willie Nelson and Elvis Presley.

But Stewart had his first taste of national success through his songwriting.

He was playing a gig at the Wagon Wheel saloon in Okeechobee, Florida, where he had a chance meeting with one of his honky-tonk heroes 

"And there in Okeechobee, in walks Mel Tillis, Stewart said in a 1992 interview with the Phoenix New Times. "He took me aside and said, `You're good, son. But the key to getting there is writing.'"

So with his bandmate -- and police officer -- Bill Eldridge, Stewart wrote several hits for country stars. starting with Stonewall Jackson, who recorded their "Poor Red Georgia Dirt" in 1965.

In 1969, Cal Smith recorded Steart and Eldridge's "You Can't Housebreak a Tomcat."



But after Stewart's mid-70s success, things started going downhill for Stewart. He broke his leg in a car wreck in 1980. He told the New Times, "The damned doctor set the damn thing about 60 degrees out of whack. It didn't heal right, so the new doctor had to saw the damn thing in half and reset it. ... Now my one leg is a half-inch shorter than the other, and it always hurts like hell."

He already was fond of drugs. But his chronic pain increased his chronic consumption of painkillers.

According to a 2017 story in Oxford American:

His consumption of uppers, Quaaludes, and prescription painkillers became even more prodigious, and bleaker. He was hospitalized for overdoses at least three times. After a few ill-conceived duds in the early 1980s, RCA dropped him in 1983. 

Stewart's only son committed suicide in 1988, which devastated the singer,

But by the end of the decade he began recording agin for the (late lamented) independent label Hightone. He did three albums for the company between 1988 and 1993.

On Nov. 26, 2003, Mary Lou, Stewart's wife of 43 years died of pneumonia. Just weeks later, Stewart ended his own life.

In closing, here's "Ten Years of This," a song that Stewart co-wrote with Wayne Carson. According to the Oxford American, Bob Dylan told Stewart "he couldn’t stop playing it, over and over again. "