John Gushue . . . Dot Dot Dot

There Is a Light That Never Goes Out

Not the Smiths, but just Johnny Marr, singing one of his best songwriting collaborations with Morrissey at the Coachella festival a few weeks ago. 

 

Song For Zula

I've been hearing this tune on one of the SiriusXM channels we get in the car, by the Brooklyn-based Phosphorescent, which sounds like a band, but is more or less Matthew Houck. The latest Phosphorescent album, Muchacho, was released last month; this performance is from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

West End Girls

The Pet Shop Boys pull out the stops on their first hit, from 2009. 

 

This Is Us

Some collaborations take you by surprise, and others seem perfectly logical. This is definitely one of the latter: Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris teaming up for This Is Us. From about five years ago, here they on the David Letterman show. 

Alexandra Leaving

We saw the Leonard Cohen concert last night. It was an amazing experience; it lasted more than three and a half hours, with one encore after another. 

Cohen and his band sang almost every song I could have wanted to hear, and in a night of highlights, this was one of them: Sharon Robinson singing one of the songs she co-wrote with Cohen, Alexandra Leaving. What a voice! 

Big Surprise

Mick Jones was to my eyes and especially ears the most interesting member of the Clash, and I've found his career afterwards fascinating (if sometimes a little disappointing). Carbon/Silicon, his ongoing project with Tony James, has a brand-new single, and here it is. The video features ordinary people in London holding up the song's lyrics and keeping the tune moving along. 

 

Leaving Town

I heard this Pat Metheny track on the Sirius XM channel Real Jazz, and would not have guessed it was Metheny, because it so heavily features sax. The Unity Band, Metheny's latest project, is the first time he's featured sax in more than three decades. No wonder! 

Paint It Black

This is the Rolling Stones' appearance on the U.K. pop show, Ready Steady Go! The performance was lip-synched, but notable for its presentation. The director, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, decided to play with things by doing rapid jump cuts and, in particular, gradually killing the studio lighting until only a single light stayed on Mick Jagger. 

If Not For You

Even while Roxy Music was still a young band, Bryan Ferry had already established himself as an interpreter of other people's songs. That sideline/solo thing has evolved over the years; in 2007, he released Dylanesque, consisting entirely of Ferryized versions of Bob Dylan songs. (The lyrics? All now understandable!) If Not For You is one of my favourites from the record. 

 

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Electric Avenue

I've been able to sing along to Eddy Grant's biggest hit since it came out, but didn't know for many years that Electric Avenue is an actual place. It's the main street in Brixton, in London, and got its name because it had the novelty of being electrified before most other streets. 

 

Mexican Radio

"I hear the talking of the DJ/ Can't understand, just what does he say?" 

Wall of Voodoo, with the one and only voice of Stan Ridgway, have the tune of the day. 

More Today Than Yesterday

This is one of the earworms I've had over the last few days ... so I'm passing it along to you. 

The Spiral Starecase - the name was spelled wrong deliberately, this being the era of The Cyrkle, the Monkees and, yes, Led Zeppelin - had a hit in 1969 with this song, which seemed to presage the horn-driven arrangements that would be popular in the Seventies. 

School of False

This performance by Big Wheel Stunt Show looks a little bit like a vintage Creedence clip, but it's much more recent, recorded a few months ago in studio for KEXP. 

 

Sweather Weather

It's Sweather Weather. No, not just the cool temperatures - it's the name of this song by The Neighbourhood. 

Neckbelly

It's St. Patrick's Day; you won't be catching me wearing any tacky plastic things, but I am marking the day in my own way. Here's Sharon Shannon, one of the finest musicians to come out of Ireland, in full performance.  

You're So Cool, I'm So Freaky

Here's Kate Nash from the U.K., performing for CBC Radio's Q a few days ago. 

 

We Are The Tide

From the Pacific Northwest, here's Blind Pilot (for some reason, the name of Blind Melon comes to mind when I think of these guys) and a live version of We Are The Tide for Seattle's KEXP. 

You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)

In 1984, Joe Jackson released Body and Soul, an album that was recorded with older studio equipment and aimed to sound like the great platters of vinyl that Jackson loved. (The cover itself was a detail-perfect homage to a Sonny Rollins album.) There was lots of brass all over the record, including on this song, one of Jackson's most upbeat. This is a live performance, with Jackson playing sax. Two of his mainstays, Graham Maby and Vinnie Zummo, are on bass and guitar, respectively. 

Tomorrow's Girls

From 1993 and his Kamakiriad solo album comes this Donald Fagen tune, which puts New Frontier-era sci-fi into a blender with gender roles, suburbia, cheesy monster thrillers and other things the Steely Dan mainstay grew up with. It's one of my favourite songs he's ever written; how can you not love lines like, "They're mixing with the population/ A virus wearing pumps and pearls" or 

Hang Loose

The Alabama Shakes made my one of my favourite records last year. While I wait for the followup, it's always nice to check back again with their debut. 

 

Love and Affection

Joan Armatrading, at her very best ... which is saying something. 

Hard Line

I was making some new playlists for puttering around the house, walking, and that kind of thing, and came across this chestnut from a few years back by Jill Barber, late of Halifax, now (I believe) out in B.C. 

Hard Line is today's song of the day on Dot Dot Dot. 

Sunday Morning

I haven't played this k-os tune in quite a while ... and now seems appropriate. 

 

K-OS 'Sunday Morning' from Drew Lightfoot on Vimeo.

Reasons to Be Cheerful

Ian Dury and the Blockheads' song is a perennial pick-me-up, with its list of things Dury liked, from the naughty to the mundane (looking at you, porridge oats). It's today's song of the day. For past picks, click on the tag below. 

Martha My Dear

For obvious reasons, this has long been a much-liked song in our house ... even though the Martha that Paul McCartney was talking about was his sheepdog.

Nonetheless, I can sing it straight through, which I believe my Martha quite likes.