Magic Jewball

Who was the first New Wave artist? Was it Talking Heads? Blondie? Gary Numan? The Human League? Devo? As you can probably tell from the title of this post, I disagree with all those choices. Yes, I would argue that it was The Cars. The Cars are kind of an odd thing. As I’ve mentioned, I listened to the premiere New Wave radio station east of the Mississippi and they never played The Cars. In fact, the only station playing them in the late 70’s were the rock stations (WPLJ and WNEW, boy am I dating myself). But I never thought of The Cars as a rock band and in fact I have proof to back this statement up. When I was in 6th Grade (that’s when I was 10), we had to do a presentation in front of the class on our favorite hobby. I (duh!) did mine on music. I used a cassette recorder to play various kinds of rock music and label them helpfully for the class. I remember little of it except that I used Baba O’Riley to illustrate rock and that I used The Cars to represent New Wave.

See, all the things I consider hallmarks of the New Wave sound are present in The Cars’ music: cool synth lines, chilly and distant vocals, a certain phrasing. Their 1978 self-titled debut album is what I believe to be one of the greatest first albums in rock history. Arguably, they never topped it. But personally, I loved the second record best for this one song, which, through all the Joy Division and Depeche Mode I adore, is still the quintessential New Wave song to me. When I dug it up this week to listen to for the first time in many years, I still knew every single word. No, it isn’t the one from the Circuit City commercial or the one that will forever remind you of Phoebe Cates taking off her bathing suit top in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, although those are good too. No, it’s this one, the one where the late Benjamin Orr sounds like he’s in a freezer and the synth sounds like a snake flicking its tongue at you.

Napster:
The Cars - Candy-0

Streaming audio available on the iPod Song of the Week page.

I think I can just sneak one in under the Sunday wire! I’ve been in a great mood lately, lots of fun things happening, and adding to this has been the recent snowfall. I don’t know about car people, but when I walk out the door in the morning, I try to match the song I start with on my iPod to my mood. Or failing that, the weather. I often listen to Disintegration when it’s raining and not because it makes me sad - it doesn’t. It just feels like rain.

But so the other day, there was snow on the ground, snow falling from the sky, and I was happy in general. As you may have noticed, there aren’t a lot of happy songs in my Depeche Mode/Cure/Smiths/New Order heavy world. So I had to think for a moment. And then I had to scroll for a few more moments. But finally I found it. A happy, fun tune, and it even mentions “there’s a world to explore” which is handy when the landscape is covered with white fluffy stuff.

Unlike most songs where I say “I think it’s about….” or “I interpret it as…” this song is indisputably about one thing: explorers making their way to the “new world” of New Zealand. Or Aotearoa as the Maori call it. And besides, I give Neil Finn a lot of love here. It’s time for some attention to Tim.

I think this song is so peppy because it’s supposed to reflect the optimism of the sailors. Also, because Split Enz excelled at this kind of zany tune. Either way, dare you not to be happy during this song! That’s because you’re not spending….

Napster:
Split Enz - Six Months In A Leaky Boat

Streaming audio available on the iPod Song of the Week page.

But first, a story having nothing to do with the iSotW but not long enough for its own post. This morning I was woken up by the most polite wrong number caller ever! I actually thought the phone was my alarm. This is because I use the phone as my alarm. It sounds exactly like I’m getting a phone call! Except there’s no one there, it’s just the phone saying, “duh, you set me, dumbass.” But today there was actually someone there. The fact that it was three hours before the time for which I had set it mattered little to me because, um, I had three hours less sleep than usual and wasn’t entirely sure what time it was. Or what year it was. It’s funny how that works. Clearly my voice communicated this fact to the caller who said, “Oh, I must have made a mistake. I am SO sorry that I woke you at this hour. Is this 555-6666?” I was so flummoxed at his sincere sounding apology that I put on my super-helpful voice and said, “No, you must have misdialed, it’s 555-6667.” He apologized again and I actually thanked him for apologizing. That’s how sleepy I was.

OK, so once I was awake that early, I couldn’t really fall back asleep right away so I listened to this show on the radio called “Breakfast With the Beatles.” Luckily, not the dead half. Even though there is a finite limit to how many Beatles songs exist they somehow manage to fill an hour or two with requests every Sunday. I’m not totally sure how many hours because if I am awake while this thing is on it means I am hardly a happy, attentive camper. But I was listening and the first request was Fool on the Hill. And it was dedicated to Roger Clemens. Ahahahahahaha! That was just brilliant, even though I actually believe Roger Clemens. You can pick which of these things you want to be the punchline to this story.

Right, onto our song. This past week contained one of my favorite holidays. Yes, Friday was Half-Priced Chocolate Sale Day. It rocked! But before that some other people celebrate Valentine’s Day, a holiday that makes me retch whether or not I am dating someone. If you are one of my exes you will immediately recall how unromantic I am. Perhaps this is why we are exes. But I digress. The London Telegraph ran a piece about the 50 Best Love Songs of the 80’s which thrilled me not only because I am an 80’s music nutcase but also because most music I listened to in the 80’s came from the UK and this list was sure to focus on that. It was a really odd assortment (Bizarre Love Triangle, really?) and nothing was odder than the choice somewhere in the middle of the list of Soft Cell’s “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.” You may only know Soft Cell from “Tainted Love” but this is actually my favorite song by them (you thought it would be Sex Dwarf, didn’t you?). It’s a wistful, poignant look back at a relationship the singer clearly thinks should never have begun in the first place. And even if the end is kind of hopeful, it isn’t the sort of song one plays at one’s wedding. To wit, the chorus:

Take your hands off me
I don’t belong to you, you see
Take a look at my face
For the last time
I never knew you
You never knew me
Say hello, Goodbye
Say hello, wave goodbye

So I can’t agree with the Telegraph that this is a love song but I will accede to this description they give: “Great tune, gripping lyrics, heroic vocal by Marc Almond.” So true. But maybe Sex Dwarf would have been a more romantic choice.

Napster:
Soft Cell - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

Streaming audio available on the iPod Song of the Week page.

Are you watching Feist right now on the Grammys? Of course not, because I’m writing this way before you read it. I have no idea who else has been on because I was out to dinner with friends and I forgot to set my Tivo. Anyway, of course Feist was big before Apple but we all know that commercial made her. Who’s next? Why, it’s Israeli singer Yael Naim! That’s right, the #1 song on iTunes is by an Israeli, the chick from the MacBook Air commercial (that’s the laptop that’s so thin, it doesn’t include anything you need on it).

So because I’ve been crazy busy this weekend and I would like to shower so as to get the smell of barbecue sauce out of my hair (I smell like any restaurant I go to, it’s a curse), instead of me analyzing some track from my iPod, here’s this light and airy song from next year’s Grammy winner, Yael Naim. It’s really pleasant! Get it? Because naim means pleasant in Hebrew. Oh ahahahahaha! Yes.

I know, I’m supposed to be watching the Super Bowl with 90 million other people but someone has to mind the Interweb. So, instead, let’s rediscover the best song about heroin ever! Actually, when I was a kid listening to this song, I had no idea it was about drugs. I just liked its carnivalesque, rollicking melody and instrumentation. It was like nothing else I was hearing on the radio. Is that a harpsichord? Who knows. I do know that this is one song I never, ever skip on my iPod and has been redone by about a million people. None of them are as good as the original. The Stranglers were a great punk band and then, after punk, a great melodic guitar band. This is from the later stage, as you can probably tell. It’s almost jazzy.

Oh, and I apologize for not updating the iSotW page since New Year’s but it’s gotten too long and will mess up the page and I’m thinking about what to do about that. While I’m thinking, listen to the song.

Napster:
The Stranglers - Golden Brown

Streaming audio available on the iPod Song of the Week page.