- LaBelle: "What Can I Do For You?"
When they weren't singing about hooking, LaBelle could be really political. And really, really funky. Not bad for a group that had been a straight-forward girl group throughout the 1960s. This quasi-disco tune is a little disorienting, rhythm-wise, but check out that vamp towards the end. And the lyrics sort of reflect how I'm feeling about the whole election thing: "People want to live, not merely exist / People want to enjoy, not suffer in fear, no no no." It's too bad that "Lady Marmalade" has sort of eclipsed the rest of their back catalog; they remain one of my very favorite bands, ever.
I'll have another LaBelle track -- one of their best, in fact -- up later this week.
- John Cale: "Fear Is A Man's Best Friend"
This bleak little tune is from the album Fear, and was produced by Roxy Music-ians Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera. Probably best known for being the arty counterbalance to Lou Reed's nascent popster in the Velvet Underground, Cale has since gone on to do a lot of great music on his own. This song starts out almost pretty, and gradually collapses into itself, until by the end there is just chaos, with Cale shrieking the chorus. Now that's entertainment! It's not a particularly political song, but it's the mood of the thing that struck me... NOW MORE THAN EVER. (Just be happy I didn't put up "Gun"; now that is a bizarre song! It's over eight minutes long and features a solo by Eno and Manzanera -- yes, a two-person solo.)
Tomorrow, a three-fer!
"I'm Shlomo McGillicutty and I approved this message."
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