“No Love Lost”
Joy Division
1978

“♫ I
need
it ♫”

Euphoria from a Joy Division song might be seen as unusual combination to some but sometimes inspiration hits you at the most intimate of times. All I remember were the shadows as I was reaching deeper, in my best Ian Curtis voice, I whispered—“I need it.” It seemed like ages since I even heard this song and just like that, “No Love Lost” came to me in the most beautiful of moments.


Unfortunately, Peter Hook bassist of Joy Division doesn’t have as joyful memory when the band first recorded “No Love Lost.” Initially released as one of the songs on Joy Division’s first ever releases, 1978’s An Ideal for Living EP, “No Love Lost” was Hooky’s out of tune guitar, as Peter admitted in his book Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division, “I’ve never been able to tune. I’m tone deaf. Barney [Sumner] always did it for me, much to his delight. […] But anyway, when we were recording the EP, I was greeted with the news that my guitar was out of tune, which immediately ruined it for me because I was shitting myself. But we struggled through. We did “No Love Lost,” with Barney going, “Ooh, it sounds a bit out, doesn’t it? Hooky’s guitar…” and me getting wound up but having to grit my teeth and let him retune it each time.”

I loved Hooky’s guitar eerie guitar sound on “No Love Lost.” It may have been slightly out of tune but maybe that’s what has this Joy Division original its “Lost” mystique. Even Peter Hook would admit it was lead singer Ian Curtis’ words that gave Joy Division the aura of lyrical immortality. Hook wrote about Curtis’s songwriting genius when he said, “Lyrically, I was struck by “No Love Lost,” especially the spoken-word verse, an extract from House of Dolls (not the last time Ian found inspiration in that book, of course…) I think you could point to that EP as beginning the moment that he truly began to find his feet in his writing and singing. […] It was shaping him into the writer he became, which he arguably one of the best lyricists ever. His songs from that point were like having a conversation with a genius, sort of profound and impenetrable at the same time. The songs seemed to flow out of him and he didn’t put a foot wrong after that point, didn’t write a single bad lyric after An Ideal for Living, right up until his death.”

One of the best parts of Hook’s book Unknown Pleasures is his witty Mancunian sense of humor that brims along with a sense of longing that’s honest, moving and reflective in the same breath. Peter thanked Ian for saving the band’s reputation in this revealing passage when he wrote, “Even though we’d been using the name Warsaw for longer, they’d effectively taken it over. During the usual band meeting in the pub we decided to change ours, and so began the long conversations about what we should be instead. Obviously Ian had read House of Dolls. He’d already pilfered it for the spoken-word but on “No Love Lost,” and now he took Joy Division from it too—and thank God he did, because he saved us from the shame of being called Boys of Bondage or Slaves of Venus. Barney went off and started going interesting typographical things to it. And that was it, we were Joy Division.”


From the book, House of Dolls that not only inspired the extended prose passage on “No Love Lost” also gave Joy Division its memorable band name. If you want to discover were the sound of Joy Division was born listen to the post punk perfection of “No Love Lost.” Who knows what Unknown Pleasures you will uncover when rediscovering this Joy Division cut? Let “No Love Lost” take you to that secret place. Listening to Joy Division’s An Ideal for Living EP proved sometimes you have to romance within shadows to feel the beauty of her eternal light.

“Ray Manzarek’s Jim & Pam trilogy for The Romeo & Juliet of California:
[“You’re Lost Little Girl,” “Unhappy Girl” and “I Can’t See Your Face In My Mind.”]”
The Doors
1967


When Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison decided to form The Doors on the Venice Beach, both wanted to expand the horizons of music. While Jim just wanted to simply “break on through;” I believe Ray’s goal was for The Doors to reach the most masses with the magical artistry of their distinctive revolutionary sound. Both succeeded, making The Doors one of the most successful and immortal American bands still inspiring disgruntle teen poets and dreamer keyboardist to recapture the tripped out majesty of The Doors.

Not only was Manzarek dedicated to the legacy of The Doors, and one of the things I loved most about Ray is that he believed in the true love between Jim Morrison and his soul mate Pamela Courson-Morrison. Today in honor of Ray and his devotion to the love of Jim & Pam, Don’t Forget The Songs 365 presents “Ray Manzarek’s personal trilogy to The Romeo & Juliet of California: Jim & Pam.” Taken all from 1967’s Strange Days album, Ray described the trilogy when he said, ““You’re Lost Little Girl” is Robbie’s song. Its part of my trilogy called Tragic Love. The others are “Unhappy Girl” and “I Can’t See Her Face in my Mind.”” While most saw Jim & Pam’s love as an affair that was highly volatile, Ray knew there were something deeper connecting Morrison and Courson.

When asked why he put together this trilogy for the 1997 Doors Box set, Ray replied, “Pamela and Jim are going to go down in the history books as great lovers, and people are going to be writing plays about them. It’s Romeo and Juliet, its Heloise and Abelard. It’s Jim and Pam. I love them very much, and miss them very much. But they are together in the ether.”

Thanks to Ray Manzarek, not only has the legacy of The Doors endured but so has the eternal love of Jim & Pam. Their love was further immortalized in Scranton, Pa’s own Jim and Pam, as one of television’s greatest love story’s as seen in the American version of The Office. “Pamela is Jim’s other half. Romeo & Juliet are reunited forever in that romantic place that we’re all going to go to someday.” And Ray has joined his two friends, the cosmic lovers Jim & Pam in that celestial rock paradise in the sky. While some believed Ray to be the band mate’s whose sole purpose was to expand the legacy of The Doors, I saw Manzarek as more of a romantic with an entrepreneurial spirit. When it came down to it, Ray not only believed in his band but also the eternal love of Jim & Pam. I urge you to spin Ray Manzarek’s personal trilogy to The Romeo & Juliet of California: Jim & Pam: “You’re Lost Little Girl,” “Unhappy Girl” and “I Can’t See Your Face In My Mind.”

“You’re Lost Little Girl” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8-mgd8v4P8
“Unhappy Girl” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfXSMsnkrkU
“I Can’t See Your Face In My Mind” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0TRzTSIQI8

Reflecting on the band’s legacy, Ray had the last word in The Doors 2006 book with Ben Fong-Torres, when he wrote, “And in each new generation’s discovery of The Doors and Jim’s plea of: “Please, please listen to me, children. You are the ones who will rule the world.” In each generation quest for its own freedom, Jim is there. The Doors are there.” And Ray is also there, joining The Romeo & Juliet of California, Jim & Pam— breaking on through to the other side.

“Future Starts Slow”
The Kills
2011

“♫ I
don’t
mind ♫”

If there was ever a reason why I truly love the music, the attitude and carnal fire that is The Kills, guitarist and songwriter Jamie Hince proved it once again when asked about the meaning of Blood Pressures opener, 2011’s “Future Starts Slow,” he said, “It’s obvious isn’t it? The song is about fucking and fighting.”

Although Alison Mosshart is the luscious face and figurehead of The Kills, guitarist Hince just as much of the songs as his lovely singing counterpart. The genius of Hince’s songs is that are perfectly matched for the chanteuse electricity exuded by Alison when bringing The Kills songs to life. Explaining how “Future Starts Slow” magically came to life, Hince said, “With “Future Starts Slow” I didn’t write any of it down, I was just playing it and the words came out of my mouth and not into paper. I don’t normally do that.”

When asked if “Future Starts Slow” was autobiographical, Jamie honestly replied, “I think that every song that everyone writes no matter how abstract…even if it’s “Major Tom” or “Eleanor Rigby” even if the artist is guiding you to see something about a character, there’s always something autobiographical about it. If you write about a character there’s still a bit of you in it.”

Are you shocked to discover The Kills’ “Future Starts Slow” is about “fucking and fighting,” hardly? I do love the fact that Hince compared his “Future” song with Bowie and The Beatles. There is something about “Future Starts Slow,” it’s not only that carnal fire that Alison ignites when she sings there’s a tension always simmering through every Kills song that likes dynamite about to detonate. Hince’s band mate Mosshart describes the dynamic with playing with Jamie like this, “I’ve never been that excited. It’s like, one of the greatest feelings of Earth. Some people fucking hate it, but I don’t. That just immediately hooked me, and then I couldn’t get enough.” I’m hooked and I can’t get enough. If you have a hunger for a soundtrack to your next flesh like fantasy—get turned on with “Future Starts Slow.”

“Dirty Frank”
Pearl Jam
1992

“♫ Why
that dirty
Frank was
a bad mother/
shut your
mouth! ♫”

While Nirvana and Soundgarden are usually mentioned as obvious influences to the riffs and lyrics of Seattle cohorts Pearl Jam, but it was the inspiration and support of the L.A. funk/rock masters Red Hot Chili Peppers that actually sparked the sound of this unusual Lost Dog “Dirty Frank.”

Although, I’d admit “Dirty Frank” is not the best Pearl Jam song but there’s this certain sense of deranged funkiness, a off kilter weirdness that’s noticeably absent on most of PJ’s heavy songs. The original idea was sparked by 1990’s cannibal killer Jeffery Dahmer, but Pearl Jam took a more personal spin— making the protagonist their tour bus driver as Mike McCready explained in Cameron Crowe’s Pearl Jam Twenty, “We had a bus driver at the time, this guy Frank, who we called ‘Dirty Frank” because we were scared of him. We thought he may have been a serial killer and he was going to eat me. They were just picking on me. And at that time, I was the skinniest guy in the band, so there wasn’t a lot of meat on me. We stole the middle part from the [Red Hot Chili] Peppers when we were opening up for them. [Editor’s note: Pearl Jam borrowed a line from the Red Hot’s “Freaky Styling.” To fit their ‘Dirty Frank” killer theme, Pearl Jam altered the Chili’s: “F-ck 'em just to see the look on their face” to “Cook 'em just to see the look on their face.”]”

Although, the fears from being cannibalized by bus driver “Dirty Frank” eventually subsided, Eddie Vedder remembers fondly those days touring with the Chili Peppers when he told Crowe, “Anthony, Flea and the Peppers gave us unfathomable amounts of support back in the day. I’ve never properly expressed my gratitude, though I’ve tried. It’s almost impossible to put into words what that meant to us, and me personally.”

Thank You Anthony, Flea and the Chili’s for inspiring such a funky song. Did you catch Eddie Vedder’s twisted tribute to Isaac Hayes? My favorite part is when Eddie turns Hayes most clever line, “Shaft is a bad mother…shut your mouth,” from 1971 “Theme from Shaft” into “Frank’s” most memorable phrase when Vedder shouts “Dirty Frank is a bad mother…shut your mouth.”

More than just a flip side to 1992’s ‘Even Flow” “Dirty Frank” was so essential Pearl Jam resurrected it for inclusion in their 2003 Lost Dogs anthology. Inspired by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, this cannibalistic anthem is one funky rarity that deserves resurrection in your next party. Twisted, insane but still 100% the soul of Pearl Jam, give “Dirty Frank” a try; you may just like the after taste of this bloody treat you won’t be able to resist the charms of this once killer b-side.

“Bankrobber”
The Clash
1980

“♫ What
do you
think
they’d
want to
say
to us/While
we was
being
clever? ♫”

Imagine if you’re favorite rock and roll band decided to release a single a month for one year? Always looking out for their devoted cult followers, The Clash wanted to be that band but unfortunately, in 1980, CBS Records got in the way as bassist Paul Simenon explained, “We decided that we wanted to release a single a month and the first one we put forward was Bankrobber. But the head of the record company didn’t like it. He said it sounded like David Bowie backwards, which I didn’t understand. So the UK record company wouldn’t release it. But the Dutch did and it was then imported, which made the UK company released it. But it stopped the flow of putting out a single a month.”

I believe it was less about the song and more about the record company’s fear of having to spend all that money on The Clash. Besides, a song that’s David Bowie backwards sounds bloody awesome to me. The label was also probably more hesitate about the reggae sound. They must have been waiting for more punk and less Caribbean inspired rhythms. You can thank Jamaican artist Mickey Dread for the reggae vibe on “Bankrobber.” Having been invited by The Clash to tour with the band, they quickly got Dread in the studio with them and one of the first fruits of their creative collaboration was “Bankrobber.” Explaining in Pat Gilbert’s Passion is a Fashion: The Real Story of The Clash, Dread talked about why he produced “Bankrobber” for The Clash, “When I found a white group that wanted to play reggae, I wanted to get 100 percent behind it. But they needed someone to show them how to do it. It’s like if you get a new recipe, it’s better to go to someone who’s been cooking it a while and they can show you how to measure it out properly rather than just throw the ingredients in the pot. I showed them what our approach was.” Dread later praised The Clash saying, “I really liked the guys. It was a fusion of two different cultures, in a way that was trying to benefit everyone, I respected them.”

Even though The Clash covered “Police & Thieves” thanks to Mickey Dread, they crafted their own reggae song that the head of their record company said that “Bankrobber” sounded like David Bowie backwards. I would love to one day create a song that sounds like David Bowie backwards, “Bankrobber” is not that song. “Bankrobber” is a testament to the artistry and the universal love of rebellious music. The Clash never sounded so defiant and addicting, even as a reggae band, when the record company refused to release this, “Bankrobber” was so good, it finally became the outlaw single they always dreamed of; Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simenon and Topper Headon crafted songs so memorable, “Bankrobber” demanded to be unleashed to the music world; The Clash may have made their names as politico punk rockers but nobody could shake the foundations of music like these guys did with “Bankrobber” and that was the power and legacy of The Clash.

And here’s the “Rockers Galore…U.K. Tour” which is “Bankrobber” with Mickey Dread’s vocal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvV52NStRto

“Fool in the Rain”
Led Zeppelin
1978

“♫ Light
of the
Love
that I
found ♫”

I literally was dancing with the raindrops as I walked away after completing the first testing part of my job interview. It was like I actually sleighed one of my metaphorical dragons and it felt so liberating that I was singing “Fool in the Rain” all the way to the parking lot.

Jon Bream noticed in his book, Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin, that the lyrical plotline for “Fool in the Rain” was also inspired by the Diamonds 1957 doo wop “Silhouette.” Led Zep was anything but foolish for releasing “Rain” as a 1978 single that actually became a top twenty hit.

Always a favorite, since high school, “Fool in the Rain” is my favorite feel good Zeppelin song. According to Nigel Williamson in The Rough Guide to Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones came up with the idea for “Fool in the Rain” when they heard a samba tune while watching the 1978 World Cup. I love the sound of “Fool in the Rain” it’s just so joyful it makes me want to splash puddles on the sidewalks.

In case you’re still wondering why I’m so fascinated with this 1978 Led Zep single, here are my Top Five Favorite Moments of “Fool in the Rain:”
1. 0:06 I love the way Robert Plant sings “Oh Baby”
2. 2:25 the whistle before the Samba breakdown
3. 3:30 Brazilian percussion during the breakdown
4. listen for the way Bonzo’s drum carry the band through those lovely Brazilian percussion bursting all the way through Bonham’s luscious breakdown drum fills at 3:44
5. 3:51 Jimmy Page’s solo sounds like his guitar is actually joyously singing in the rain!

Convinced? So light up your Saturday night with this Led Zeppelin blissful number; Whether it’s overcast or with clear starry skies, anytime is the right moment to resurrect the magic of “Fool in the Rain.”

“Swingin’”
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
1999

“♫ I
knew
I could
count on
you ♫”

I woke up today with 1999′s “Swingin’” in my head this morning. Hearing this gem today reminded me what Tom Petty told Paul Zollo talkin about Echo’s improvisational gem that is “Swingin’” when he said, ““Swingin’” is a good one. I actually ad-libbed it completely. That is the writing of the song. Yeah. […] We not only ad-libbed it, I mean Howie sang that back –up part live, and it all just came down. It was really a thrill. I didn’t even know this song, and it was done. It was a record.”

All we have to do is trust Tom Petty. He knows. He’s lived it. Its simple just listen for the signs and the magic will find you. Besides, “I Won’t Back Down,” “Swingin’” is probably the best advice Tom Petty ever gave on record. When life knocks you down, you have to get up off the mat and fight back— “Swingin’”…always remember Petty’s eternal Echo…don’t ever give up!

“Subway”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2013

“♫ Caught
my reflection
in the
subway
car ♫”

One thing you’ll notice from the beginning of the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album is that Mosquito has this loud and electrically eclectic sound flowing through out. No doubt that Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ new album has to be the wildest musical trip of 2013. Saying that, I believe the calmer and quieter moments of Mosquito are the most potent. Lead singer Karen O would agree, when she told Spin Magazine, “I wanted to bring back the warmth, the fucked-upness of it, but also [keep it] refined. I wanted it to be simple, but 13 years into it, you can’t be that simple. So at the very least I wanted it to have character, I wanted it to sound like a record.”

“Subway” sounds like Karen O’s modern interpretation of Jimi Hendrix’s “Here My Train A Comin’.” A classic blues song Jimi penned about his destiny as a successful artist that Hendrix described in David Tubbs’ Jimi Hendrix: The Stories Behind Every Song, “It’s about a cat running around town and a whole lot of people from across the
tracks are putting him down. And nobody don’t want to face up to it but this cat has something, only everybody’s against him ‘cause the cat might be different. So he goes on the road to be a voodoo child, come back to be a magic boy.”

Instead of trying to capture Hendrix’s voodoo child vibe, Karen O chose a Subway instead of a traditional train reflects that this Yeah Yeah Yeahs moving number is less about fame and more about love. While Yeah Yeah Yeahs were writing and recording in New Orleans, Karen O admitted, by sending her Top 50 songs written about New York City, it was her husband who inspired her to pen “Subway” when she said, “He was like ‘you gotta write one.’ I wrote this track, which is a love song set on the most New York City thing there is – the metro system.”

Listening again to “Subway,” this Mosquito cut has more of a modern day connection to Paul Banks and Interpol’s Turn on the Bright Lights ode, “NYC.” The Yeah Yeah Yeahs could have taken Interpol’s “NYC” idea and instead of describing a “porno,” thanks to Karen O’s husband she penned the ultimate underground railway love song. I love the way it’s just Karen O’s voice and the sound of the actually Subway in the background. A sort of Dancer in Dark meets PJ Harvey vocal brings Karen’s O beautiful romantic song to New York City’s “Subway” to life.

Mosquito’s “Subway” reflects something that Karen O told the New York Times when she said, “Being in the shadow a little bit preserved us. Coming up in a real moment baptized us as special, there’s no question. But we’ve been allowed to evolve.” It’s obvious to me that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs used the “Maps” of success to grow into an eclectic unit that can create a tribute of something so lovely as waiting for the train and personal anthem of hopeful escapism. “Subway” is a post modern lullaby that you will fall for; sit back, put on your headphones and enjoy the ride.

“A Certain Softness”
Paul McCartney
2005

“♫ A
certain
softness
in her
eyes
fascinates
me ♫”

Way before Paul McCartney recorded his heartfelt Valentine standards on 2012’s Kisses on the Bottom, Macca went romantic on this very luscious acoustic lovely, “A Certain Softness.” This sweet little number from Chaos and Creation in the Backyard always reminded me of a 2005 update of 1989’s Flowers in the Dirt’s “Distractions.” Featuring the tenderest of acoustic guitar work by Hamish Stuart and a lovely laid back Latin flavor that’s so irresistible, this Flowers gem is definitely worthy of your listening “Distractions.”

Fast forwarding back to 2005, while on vacation in Greece, Macca crafted “A Certain Softness” by taking “Distractions” Spanish flavor into a more old fashioned, vintage sound as McCartney explained in John Blaney’s Lennon & McCartney: Together Alone, “It’s just sort of all the love songs that I’ve heard and the ones that I love, cos I love a lot of old fashioned stuff, it’s just so well crafted.”

Macca admitted he was inspired by more of his love of romantic standards when he said, “I have a lot of influences from before my time, before my Dad’s time even, you know? People like Fred Astaire, people like that I listen to and love, really the craft behind it all; so sometimes all that just floods in and becomes a new song.” You have to admire the lyrical craftsman that is Paul McCartney. Besides, Brian Wilson, how many modern day songwriters admit to being inspired by artists like Gershwin and Nat King Cole?

Paul defended his love of love songs while explaining to The Miami Herald how Nat King Cole inspired the feel behind “A Certain Softness” when he said, “I like love, so I like love songs. I like romance. I like to listen to songs that talk about that and that contain those kinds of feelings. I’m a great Nat King Cole fan. I like to think of myself a bit in that tradition.”

While Paul McCartney will be remembered for his classic 60’s love songs like “Yesterday,” and “Maybe I’m Amazed,” its modern day Macca songs that don’t receive the love like his more celebrated lyrical counterparts. We cannot forget that Paul is still making music and there are some magical moments that Macca has penned in the last twenty five years as a solo artist. One of my favorites is 1989’s “Distractions” which lead to the Creation of Backyards’ “A Certain Softness.” If you’re a lover of Paul McCartney’s love songs, you need to rediscover this jewel. Mirroring the old romantic that is Paul McCartney, wrap your ears around “A Certain Softness,” you will definitely fall for this lovely post modern standard with a touch Paul’s well fashioned heart.