A sample of some obscure - and maybe not obscure - tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today's selection: Planet P - "Why Me?" 1983
In acknowledgement of the current moon mission.
Planet P was a project by Tony Carey, the former keyboardist for Ritchie Blackmore's "Rainbow"; Blackmore being the former Deep Purple guitarist. The name Planet P was taken from Heinlein's "Starship Troopers"
A sample of some obscure - and maybe not obscure - tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today's selection: Ad-Libs - "Boy From New York City" 1964
The A-Libs were a doo-wop band from ... New York City. Although the group made other recordings, none came close to this cut which peaked at #8 in early 1965.
The Beach Boys answered with "Girl From New York City" and used the rhythm section of the original in what became "Good Vibrations".
Cover versions did a bit better: The Darts cover hit #2 in the UK in 1978; The Manhattan Transfer's version hit #7 in the US in 1981.
A sample of some obscure - and maybe not obscure - tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today's selection: Caamp - "By and By" 2019
Caamp is a band from near Columbus, Ohio. This cut is the title song of their 2nd album, released in 2019
Continue reading →Ray Stevens - Ahab the Arab - 1962
Remember "The Streak"? Same guy.
Continue reading →A sample of some obscure - and maybe not obscure - tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today's selection: Roger McGuinn - "Shenandoah" 2003
"Away, we're bound away, cross the wide Missouri"
I sometimes wonder if songs such as this, "Mr Tambourine Man", "The Wayward Wind", and a few others led to my itchy feet taking me west.
"Shenandoah" is known as a sea chantey but more likely originates among the river men of the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri rivers of the early 1800s. Shenandoah was an Indian chief living along the Missouri River ... or was it upper New York? There are many versions of the song - it became internationally famous as the song propagated down the rivers to the clipper ships travelling around the world.
Roger McGuinn - sometimes known as Jim McGuinn - was born in 1942 and is best known as the lead guitarist and singer for The Byrds. He began as a folksinger in the late 50s/early 60s. He co-founded The Byrds with Gene Clark in 1964. The Byrds began breaking up by 1967; McGuinn finally finished the name in 1973. He then went on to a solo career, returning to his folk music roots.
He recorded this in 2003 - one of my favorite versions.
A sample of some obscure - and maybe not obscure - tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today's dual selection: Amethystium - "Ilona"/"Shadow To Light"
Amethystium is a solo music project by the Norwegian Øystein Ramfjord.
Ilona is one of my favorites from the album Odonata (1999/2001)
Shadow To Light is considered one of the best from his album Aphelion (2003).
"Amethystium could be described as a subtler Delerium, a less self-conscious Enigma, or a second cousin to Mythos. Ramfjord favors a lighter, spacier vibe than most of the aforementioned acts though."
Does that help?
Øystein was 18 when he released his first album Odonata as a free mp3 download in 1999.
A sample of some obscure - and maybe not obscure - tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today's selection: Napoleon XIV - "Coming To Take Me Away"
Jerry Samuels, aka Napoleon XIV, was born in 1938 in NYC. He began his recording career in 1956 but hit the big time in 1966 with "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" which hit #3 on the Billboard charts. That was pretty much it for his recording career but he began an agency business, retiring in 2021. Samuels died of complications from Parkinson's in 2023.
"Coming To Take Me Away" was a staple tune on Dr Demento's radio show.
Today also happens to be my brother's birthday - so I dedicate this tune to him.
This song played at our reception in 1998.
Any woman that allows that must love the one to whom she dedicates herself.
A sample of some obscure - and maybe not obscure - tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today's selection: Josh Ritter - Harrisburg 2002
Josh Ritter was born in 1976 in Moscow, Idaho - "beautiful little town in the middle of wheat fields in the northern part of Idaho.". After graduating from high school, he entered an Ohio college to study neuroscience but ended up creating his own major in "American History Through Narrative Folk Music" and recorded his debut album on campus. After graduation, he moved to Scotland for 6 months, then back to the States, then to Ireland as an opening act for Irish band The Flames.
His father had grown up in Pennsylvania and on family trips as a child from a small town, the dome of the capital Harrisburg made an impression on him, eventually inspiring his song "Harrisburg" released in 2002. "The song of 'Harrisburg' was much longer, initially, and I thought of this person desperately trying to make their way to a place that they hope would be better, and Harrisburg was that place."
It's a long way to Heaven, it's closer to Harrisburg
And that's still a long way from the place where we are
And if evil exists, it's a pair of train tracks
And the devil is a railroad car
He worked with Bob Weir on Weir's third solo album, Blue Mountain
Josh Ritter has now released 13 albums. About his latest, I Believe in You, My Honeydew (2025):
“That's the best part about songs, is that what comes out is never what you think is going to come out and you can't ever run away from yourself. I'm so proud that you can hear Idaho in there because that's under there all the time. And I feel like I draw on it sometimes without even knowing.”
A sample of some obscure - and maybe not obscure - tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today's double selection: Dazed & Confused: Jake Holmes, Yardbirds 1967
Most wouldn't even think that this wasn't a Led Zeppelin song but it was written by Jake Holmes as an acoustic piece in 1967. Holmes opened for the Yardbirds at a concert in New York. The Yardbirds drummer liked the song, bought the Holmes LP and played it for the rest of the band. Jimmy Page tweaked it a bit, added a bit of guitar work, and the Yardbirds started performing the song themselves although they never recorded it in a studio.
In 1968, Jimmy Page had formed a new group called Led Zeppelin and after additional tweaking, the song was released on the group's first album - without credit to Jake Holmes - and was usually on the playlist at Led Zeppelin concerts.
Holmes filed copyright infringement lawsuits and the case was finally settled "with prejudice" in 2012. The song is now released as "By Page - Inspired by Jake Holmes". The song is the most played of the Zeppelin song list.
Continue reading →A sample of some obscure - and maybe not obscure - tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today's selection: Kiffness & Alugalug - Soulful Singing 2021
A duet. A strange duet.
The Kiffness, the stage name of David Scott, born 1988, is a South African performer. He began studying medicine but switched to music and philosophy while working as a DJ. He had been a touring artist but when COVID halted live performances, he started recording some parodies about how the South African government was handling the pandemic.
He mostly writes political satirical songs aimed at South Africa issues, but he parodied Trump's claim of Haitians eating people's pets in 2024 (which I happen to believe was true but maybe not as widespread as media let on).
The Kiffness plays the instruments and backup vocals on this selection.
Alugalug is the lead singer on this cut, singing in her native language ...
There is an album available called "Cat Jams". It's actually not bad ...
Continue reading →