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The Current Music Blog: October 6, 2009 Archive

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Today In Music History: Mr. Village Gorilla Head

Posted at 6:57 AM on October 6, 2009 by Steve Seel (1 Comments)
Filed under: Music History

Birthdays:

Singer Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon is 58.
Guitarist David Hidalgo of Los Lobos is 55.
Matthew Sweet is 45.

Today in:

1969 - A George Harrison song became the A-side of a Beatles single for the first time, when The Beatles released "Something" backed with "Come Together."
1976 - Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots received a gold record for the novelty single "Disco Duck." The single eventually went platinum.
1978 - Mick Jagger apologized to the Reverend Jesse Jackson for offensive lyrics in the Rolling Stones song "Some Girls," but he refused to change the words.
1991 - Michael Jackson gave away the bride at Elizabeth Taylor's seventh wedding, held at Jackson's Neverland Ranch. The Groom was construction worker Larry Fortensky, whom Taylor would divorce in 1996.

Tommy Stinson is 43 today. Happy birthday Tommy! While locals still celebrate Tommy's contributions to The Replacements, and a wide audience these days knows him as the bassist for Guns N' Roses since 1998, we thought we'd take the occasion to play some of his solo stuff: from his 2004 release Village Gorilla Head, we played "Motivation."

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Tuesday Coffee Break: Covers That Are Better Than The Original

Posted at 8:48 AM on October 6, 2009 by Steve Seel (35 Comments)
Filed under: 9:30 Coffee Break

(updated below)

We won't give you any hints or suggestions, because we want to hear your ideas. But there might be some examples of covers that are better than the originals that we can all agree on; there also might be a whole bunch of examples Jill and I have never thought of, and those are the ones we really want to hear. Get your suggestions in for today's 9:30 Coffee Break.

Update: Let's repeat: subjective is obviously the word of the day. One person's improvement is another's sacrilege and another's "it's just different, not better or worse." But these were the standout requests:

1) Jimi Hendrix, "All Along The Watchtower" (Dylan)
2) Jeff Buckley, "Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen)
3) Ike and Tina Turner, "Proud Mary" (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
4) Elvis Costello and The Attractions, "What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding?" (Nick Lowe)

Thanks everyone! And thanks to Vanessa for suggesting today's Coffee Break topic.

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Free is cheaper than $1.00

Posted at 10:42 AM on October 6, 2009 by Barb Abney

The London-based outfit, Fanfarlo was recording their debut, Reservoir in Connecticut this time last year. They released the album several months ago and began building a buzz with a supporting gig on the road with Snow Patrol, SxSW gigs and by offering their record as a download for less than $1.00 for several weeks. Today on our Song Of The Day podcast you can grab their latest single "The Walls Are Coming Down" for free!

The video for this single is pretty interesting. Yes, that is a "real" escape artist. (kids, don't try this at home.)

If you're a new subscriber to the Song Of The Day podcast you will also receive new music from Golden Silvers, Lookbook, Wye Oak and Brother Ali. Later this week, we'll be featuring new music from Built To Spill, Drive-By Truckers and new local music from Lower 48.

3 Songs that give hope to those in despair..

Posted at 12:20 PM on October 6, 2009 by Barb Abney
Filed under: My Three Songs

Nancy Compton from Forest Lake, MN picked today's My 3 Songs set because...

" My daughters and I love these songs and can relate to them as we are survivers of severe mental,emotional and physical abuse and homelessness. These songs rock and give hope to those in despair."

Placebo - "For What It's Worth"
The Dead Weather - "Treat Me Like Your Mother"
The Tragically Hip - "Coffee Girl"

Make your "My 3 Songs" requests here.

Tunes On The Telly Tonight (10/06/09)

Posted at 1:11 PM on October 6, 2009 by Barb Abney

The Mountain Goats on The Colbert Report
Gossip on Jimmy Kimmel Live
The Avett Brothers on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson
They Might Be Giants on Jimmy Fallon

Austin City Limits 2009

Posted at 6:27 PM on October 6, 2009 by Bill DeVille

My wife and I took a little vacation in Austin,TX for this years Austin City Limits festival. Saw a ton of great music. This years event featured Currrent artists like Pearl Jam, Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys, Andrew Bird, Yeah Yeah Yeah's, Phoenix, Michael Franti & the Decemberists.

Usually the big story of the festival is the heat. I remember in 2005 the temps hovered around triple digits. This year for the first time the festival was held in October. Pick your poison. Day 1 of ACL was fantastic. Lots of sun and around 80 degrees. By Saturday the story was rain....with rain comes mud

mud feet.jpg
Portland's Blitzen Trapper were very well recieved

blitzen trapper.jpg
straight from Alabama, The Dexateens prove rock-n-roll in the morning can be fun

dexateens.jpg
and Austin's own Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears brought the funk

lewis.jpg
Next time you go to a rock festival, remember your rainboots!

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