By Marco den Ouden
Even though the 1938 radio drama was introduced as a work of fiction, when Orson Welles’s realistic adaptation of H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds aired, many thought it was a real event. The format was a regular radio programme periodically interrupted for live news updates about the Martian invasion. Pandemonium ensued as over a million of the show’s six million listeners believed the drama’s newscasts to be genuine. The programme revealed the power of fake news, even when unintentional.
So we start off our surprising playlist with Jeff Wayne’s musical adaptation, The Eve of the War. It starts off with a monologue followed by a dramatic and spacey musical score. A chorus comes in singing, “The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, but still, they come.” This is the opening song from the double album of the stage musical.
This was a challenging and fascinating topic as so many different nuances of the concept of surprise were offered. I’ve tried to cover them all in both lists. Of course, there were a number of songs that specifically addressed the notion of surprise. Surprisingly only a half dozen or so. I’ll Be Your Surprise by Hurrah is a chipper rocker.
We mellow out the pace with three songs that tell a story with an unexpected ending. The Ames Brothers tell the saucy tale of The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane. “She throws those come hither glances at every Tom, Dick, and Joe. When offered some liquid refreshment the lady never, never says no.” What a tramp, eh? Or is she?
From a scandalous babe we move on to Shame and Scandal in the Family. Duke Errol and the Lords tell the sordid tale of a young man seeking his father’s blessing to marry this girl he’s met. Dad tells him: “Son, I have to say no, this girl is your sister, but your mama don't know.” Ends with an amusing twist.
And our final song with a quirky ending is rapped by Tone-Loc. He’s striking out with the girls so one of his buddies tells him he should try this aphrodisiac called Funky Cold Medina. He tries it out on his dog and soon he has every dog in the neighbourhood at his door. So he tries it on a gal named Sheena. Oops! When he got “her” undressed he exclaimed, “I don't fool around with no Oscar Meyer wiener.” There’s more. Let’s just say that Medina could be called Love Potion #13!
From the light-hearted whimsy of twisted tales we’re taking some time to get serious.
Recently my wife and I watched two very different movies that were variations on a theme. One was Mississippi Burning starring Willem Dafoe and Gene Hackman. It’s powerful story about the Freedom Riders who were in the forefront of the Civil Rights movement.
The other is a 2007 movie starring Hilary Swank as an idealistic school teacher who tries to cope with troubled and troublesome black kids plagued with a home life where gang violence is prevalent. She manages to connect with the kids and starts a project for them to express their hopes and fears in writing. Freedom Writers, like MIssissippi Burning, is an inspiring movie of hope and compassion.
So we move on musically to Childish Gambino and his unnerving and brutal This is America. Designed to shock, I’ve linked the music video which has an impact the song alone can’t come close to. A commentary on American gun culture and two solitudes. The song and video weaponizes surprise and forces the viewer to confront what society has normalized. Be warned. This is not a pleasant video to watch but an important one.
Next up: an unusual mashup. Who would have thunk that Britney Spears and Nine Inch Nails could blend so well together? The blended tunes are Baby One More Time and Closer. Surprise! Surprise! It sounds great!
Under the subcategory of unusual covers we find The Stranglers doing an upbeat rendition of Dionne Warwick’s Walk on By.
There were a couple of tunes nominated that represented tremendous innovations in the pop music industry. Les Paul pioneered the virtuoso guitar work that became a staple of Rock ‘n’ Roll and with his wife Mary Ford he pioneered overdubbing. It’s evident in his guitar work and even more so in the lush harmonies of Mary’s singing. She harmonizes with herself on multi-track recordings. You can see the recorders rolling in some of the shots. And cast your eyes on Les’s flashy guitar work.
Back on the lighter side of things, here’s a couple of quirky songs. Songs that are bizarre or weird or wonderfully different in some standout way. A fair number were suggested. First up is an interesting take on the teenage disaster and angst songs of the 60s. You know the genre. First Kiss, Tell Laura I Love Her, Leader of the Pack. The list goes on. But Paul Hampton’s noir ditty Two Hour Honeymoon is in a class by itself. Sounds like a Sam Spade movie in style and presentation. And features the sounds of a crashing vehicle, not the first to do so, but still a novelty. Another surprise, the music is by Burt Bacharach.
Another quirky number is The Man With the Foldback Ears. A truly strange but oddly endearing song with absurdist lyrics, chanting, and twangy, almost psychedelic guitar. I concede the ending is a bit overdone. Could have tempered that a bit. But hey, a delight all the same.
Our penultimate number is what I’d classified as a Fish Out of Water song. A Scotsman singing in a Scottish brogue (sort of) accompanied by Hawaiian guitar. There is even some simulated bagpipes played on guitar. Simeon Bright, The Singing Surfriders & "Squeeze" Kamana give us Hawaiian Scotsman.
And we close out the set with another of my favorite finds of the week. Latino pop singer Rosalía is accompanied by a full orchestra as she performs an operatic rendition of Berghain. Lush, beautiful, and lively. Guests spots from Björk and Yves Tumor.
You’ll find more variations on the theme in our B List.
The Unanticipated A-List Playlist:
The Eve of the War – Jeff Wayne (MussoliniHeadkick)
I’ll Be Your Surprise – Hurrah (MussonliniHeadkick)
The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane – The Ames Brothers (Naguchi)
Shame and Scandal in the Family – Duke Errol and the Lords (Uncleben)
Funky Cold Medina – Tone-Loc (tincanman)
This is America – Childish Gambino (Nicko)
Baby One More Time x Closer Mashup – Britney Spears & Nine Inch Nails (happyclapper)
Walk On By – The Stranglers (Maki)
How High the Moon – Les Paul and Mary Ford (Uncleben)
Two Hour Honeymoon – Paul Hampton (tincanman)
The Man With the Foldback Ears – Fred Lane & his Hittite Hot Shots (TarquinSpodd)
Hawaiian Scotsman – Simeon Bright, The Singing Surfriders & "Squeeze" Kamana (TarquinSpodd)
Berghain – Rosalía (pejepeine)
The Big Bewilderment B-List:
Baby What a Big Surprise – Chicago (SweetHomeAlabama) – literally about a surprise and a great tune as well.
The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia – Vicki Lawrence (SweetHomeAlabama) – twist ending
Me and My Uncle – Grateful Dead (Chris7572) – twist ending
Memphis, Tennessee – Chuck Berry (ShivSidecar) – twist ending (similar twist to Shady Lady in the A List)
Stranger in his Kiss – Lori McKenna (tincanman) – twisted story with woman suspecting her best friend of cheating with her husband
Pretty Ballerina – Alice Cooper (amylee) – double header in that the song is literally about a surprise, but also a cover that is a different genre than Alice’s usual stuff
Pretty Ballerina – The Dickies (Carpgate) – same as above. The Dickies version is more upbeat.
Rawhide – Jun Togawa (TarquinSpodd) – unusual cover: the old TV show theme given a Japanese twist although in English. I was a fan of the old TV show so had to include it.
Blind Man's Penis – Ramsey Kearney (TarquinSpodd) – bizarre song poem: an interesting story behind this one, possibly the most famous of song poems. A song poem is where lyrics by a non-professional writer are put to music. Wannabe writer John Trubee saw an ad in a tabloid offering up to $20,000 in royalties for lyrics that could be put to music. So he thought to himself: “wouldn't it be fun to send these people the most ridiculous, stupid, vile, obscene, retarded Iyrics to see their response?” He did and Tamsey Kearney’s absurdist song is the result.
Watermelon – Maestro Subgum (TarquinSpodd) – another theatre of the absurd number, not as weird as the above, but still rather odd.
Another Bloody Day – Omega Tribe (Carpgate) – as punk aficionado Carpgate explains it, fans of this band heard the first 18 seconds of this song thinking O frabjous day! Just my cup o’ tea, mate! When all of a sudden the song actually becomes, shall we say, “tuneful.” What a sad surprise for punk fans.
Yatsutsuke Shigoto (Rush Job) – Ringo Sheena (ajostu) – a rather nice tune with an odd sound melange as an intro and some interesting musical interjections throughout.
Escape (Pina Colada Song) – Rupert Holmes (SweetHomeAlabama) – the classic twist ending song
No Particular Place to Go – Chuck Berry (tincanman) – twist ending about a seat belt that won’t come loose
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere – Alan Jackson & Jimmy Buffett (Uncleben) – what’s more fun than a special guest artist making an unexpected appearance as Jimmy Buffett does in this Alan Jackson cover. At 2:13 in.
Coco the Coconut – Bruce Haack & Miss Nelson (TarquinSpodd) – the rationale for this song’s inclusion is that Brucee Haack was a pioneer in creating digital special sound effects and music. Long before Robert Moog came out with his synthesizer in 1964.
Happiness is a Warm Gun – The Beatles (severin) – The Beatles of course were innovators in much of their music. This is one of them. A bit surrealist.
Scissors – Barbara Manning (ShivSidecar) – interesting use of the sound of a scissors as low key percussion. There was one other song of odd instruments, namely the slamming and smashing of appliances. If the singer could actually sing, it might have made the list though it is arguably more of a surprise
Swami Plus Strings – The Monkees (MussoliniHeadkick) – Just a very odd song from The Monkees. Bit of a genre switch.
Beth – Kiss (Fred Erickson) – genre switch: a different sort of song for the band.
N'sel fik (you are mine) – Chaba Fedela (TarquinSpodd) – banned in Algeria because of its controversial nature.
You're In For a Big Surprise – Ray Charles (Nicko) - literal surprise
Hawaiian Cowboy – Ho'opi'i Brothers (TarquinSpodd) – another of what I call a Fish Out of Water song. Here a cowboy song sung with a Hawaiian flavor.
Jim Shandy vs 50 Cent – Jim Shandy vs 50 Cent (pejepeine) – Scottish troubadour meets gangsta rap and hip hop. An unusual mashup.
Guru’s Wild Surprise Picks:
When I saw Les Paul and Mary Ford nominated, as well as Bruce Haack, both because they were pioneers in the industry, creating new and novel ways to present music, I got it into my head that notable firsts should count for something so I looked up Haack and discovered he preceded Moog by over a decade. So I wondered if Haack was indeed th first with electronic music. Well, was I in for a surprise. The real pioneer in the genre was a Russian named Lev Sergeyevich Termen. He became a radio technical engineer and even developed spy equipment for the Soviets. In 1920 Termen, now known to us as Leon Theremin, invented the electronic instrument that bears his name. On a trip to the United States he patented his invention and licensed RCA to commercialize it. My first pick is someone playing a 1929 RCA theremin.
With the nomination of that Brittney Spears/Nine Inch Nails Mashup I wondered who invented the mashup. And the first genuine mashup is my second pick. A 1994 mashup by the Evolution Control Committee.
Over the Rainbow – performed by Peter Pringle on a 1929 RCA theremin. Absolutely stunning.
Rebel Without a Pause: A mashup of rappers Public Enemy and the music of Herb Albert & the Tijuana Brass from the Evolution Control Committee.
Bare Hugg – Manfred Mann – I was a huge Mnafred Mann fan back in the 60s and this is a jazzy instrumental written by drummer Mike Hugg who was an accomplished vibes player.
I Put a Spell on You – Angelina Jordan – hard to believe a nine year old girl has such a voice. Blows me away.
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations in response to last week's topic: What? It's the Song Bar 10th Birthday Special! And … songs with musical and lyrical surprises. The next topic will launch on Thursday after 1pm UK time.
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