Record Company Man

This week brings us Part Two of our Pearly Sweets and the Platonics retrospective. At this point, the band was relocated to Chicago, and the lineup now featured Lance “Chance” Fabuloso (né Carl Lowendorf) on guitar, Stave Davidson (né Ben Schultz) on bass, and the ever-steady Brian Bosworth (né Brian Bosworth) on drums. “Record Company Man” is one of the stronger tracks from our 2002 EP, ostentatiously titled The Hottest White Dance Band in America (a title lifted from Ken Burns’s Jazz documentary… I believe it was a tribute originally given to Benny Goodman’s band).

Listening to such things with a few years’ remove is, as always, enlightening. I do remember, in writing this tune, being reasonably cognizant of how much I was ripping off the old Springsteen classic “Kitty’s Back.” The whole E Street Band sound is very much present here, especially in the background vocals. It’s a song with a pretty strong form, but as usual, I have some quibbles with the rather over-cooked arrangement. Basically, there are too many ideas going on here. Going into the bridge, the tempo suddenly surges forward, only to be pulled right back eight bars later. Probably didn’t need to happen. Similarly, there’s a great background-vocal part that kicks in at the 4:08 mark (“The big talk never ever seemed to last…”). I now wish I had just let that be, rather than trying to layer an even more passionate lead-vocal line on top of it. But hey, if I really let things like that bother me, then I’d never release records at all. And then the world would have less digital content as a result. And where would that leave us?

My singing is done in an extremely “rock” style, with throw-ins like “brothah” and “baby” that I’ve since pulled back from a bit. Highlights include the characteristically awesome drumming of Brian Bosworth, and the group hand-claps, which sound quite powerful. Could that have been the work of engineer Peter Andreadis, whom I met during this session and who would go on to become Baby Teeth’s drummer? Most definitely!

Hot Potato Jr.

This week we hop back into the Delorean and travel to the year 1999, where we find my college band, Pearly Sweets and the Platonics, diligently recording our full-length album, Pick Yourself Up. In order to give the album a manly total of fifteen tracks, I supplement the full-band tracks with a few piano-and-vocal numbers. This is my favorite of the bunch, “Hot Potato Jr.”

It clocks in at less than a minute, marrying New Orleans-style piano playing with nonsensical lyrics. I was really into Randy Newman’s early solo records at the time, and I’m sure that contributed to the writing of this number. It also seems like I’m doing some kind of Fats Domino impression on the vocal.  Lyrically though, it’s pretty far out. Or maybe it’s just playful. Playful is good… listening to this one helps me remember that. Songs with ponderous lyrics can be eminently forgettable, while little baubles like this one seem to have a lot more staying power. I’m sure there’s a life lesson in there…. discuss.

The Part You Play

Greetings dudes, and sorry for the late post. Here’s a new song for you, tentatively titled “The Part You Play.” Lyrically, it falls well within my recurring motif of songs about showbiz/Hollywood/actresses (viz. “Celebrity Wedding,” “End of Actress,” “Bad Weather”). The opening couplet, a reworking of the opening line of “You’re So Vain,” was inspired by a recent Vanity Fair article on Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, and Carole King. The track was also inspired by {SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH IF YOU’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF WATCHING THE SOPRANOS} the song played as the credits roll on the Sopranos episode where Ade gets whacked. Something about “I loved the part you played.” I went back to listen to it, and it’s not even that great of a song, but it fit the moment well and had an impact on me. What can I say… I’m soft like Charmin. I should also give shout-outs to Spoon, from whom I ripped off the basic groove (see “I Turn My Camera On”) and Van Morrison, from whom I lifted some of the organ solo (see “Youth of 1,000 Summers”). Starbucks-rock… that’s my main influence.

As you can probably guess, the track was recorded in a state of great haste. No background vocals, minimal instrumentation, and a mix that is a bit amateurish. There are pros and cons to this approach, but what I enjoy about it is that the songwriting is forced to stand on its own, rather than hiding behind a slick arrangement. One reason why I laid it down extra-fast (aside from being pressed for time in general) is that, as of last week, it’s already part of the Baby Teeth repertoire. So for once I wasn’t jumping up and down and waving my arms at my bandmates. They already like this one.

Good Gravy!

Yah! I completely spaced on doing a post for this week. As Fishbone once mused, “Am I going crazy, or is it just the world around me?” Please forgive my lackluster performance…. I am currently a bit swamped, or as Jefferson Starship might remark, I’m knee deep in the hoopla. Regular service will resume next Monday.

In the meantime, seeing as we’re coming up on the one-year mark, let’s make this a career retrospective week. Comments are welcome on one or both of the following questions: Which is your favorite song posted on “52 Teeth” so far this year? Which is the biggest turkey?