Category Archives: Music

The Evangenitals

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EvangenitalsI can’t believe I haven’t mentioned this band before. Hopefully, I’m the last one to discover The Evangenitals “…once a fictitious band – a fib on a phony website born to amuse its founders and maybe a few friends. On a whim, Juli Crockett, Lisa Dee, and Brett Lyda – who all worked at the same sex toy company in L.A. (like the Sex Pistols) – brought the ghost to life and debuted a handful of “hillbilly truck-stop lullabies.”

Somewhere I stumbled across one of the songs from their latest CD (“Everlovin'”). A haunting ballad/anthem titled “Fuck ’em All.”

I’ve looked high and low for the lyrics but that’s just as well. You need to hear the song, not read the lyrics. It’s only 99 cents. If you don’t like it, I’ll send you a buck.

PS: This post is number 3,500 here at smays.com. I normally miss things like this but just happened to notice this one. I promise not to bring this up again until 4,000.

My Favorite Depressing Songs

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It occurred to me today that some of my favorite songs are pretty depressing. I wondered how many I could come up with off the top of my head. Real quick. 

  • Table for One -Liz Phair
  • At Seventeen – Janis Ian
  • Picture – Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock
  • Space Oddity – David Bowie
  • Dark End of the Street – Veronica Klaus
  • Streets of Philadelphia – Bruce Springsteen
  • Fuck ’em All – Evangenitals
  • A Thousand Kisses Deep – Leonard Cohen

This is just a starter-list, in no particular order. And I’m willing to bump some if you can come
up with some that I like as well but still make me want to blow my
brains out. Ten would be a good number, don’t you think? Comments are open.

Sheryl Crow rocks Redneck Riviera

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Our man in Pensecolda, Matt Zeni, files this review of Sheryl Crows performance at the civic center last Saturday night:

Sherylpensecola“She talked about traveling to Panama City with her family many years ago and going to Mrs. Reed’s trailer park where they rented a space for a week or two with their “cool” Airstream trailer. She and the band traveled to Panama City Saturday and saw a lot of changes with many, many condos but Mrs. Reed and her trailer park are still there. She also mentioned that she ‘hangs out’ down the road in Destin.

She looks terrific for being 46 years young and all she had been through the past three years and she touched on the events in her life the past few years. She was incredible [photos]. First time I saw her in concert. I had the chance to talk with her about 5-10 minutes when she was (in Columbia, MO) about ten years ago. She was in town for a concert and for MU homecoming and she was at the station(s) with her parents.

She was amazing. I even called a friend back in Columbia while in the civic center before the show. She asked me to call her back when Sheryl played her favorite song, My Favorite Mistake. I did and Tracey enjoyed the 6-7 minutes thanks to T-Mobile. Nothing like a live concert on your cellphone! I saw quite a few cellphone and I-phones sending video and audio to all parts of the world.”

Thanks for the report, Matt. Makes a boy wonder how concert promoters will stop thousands of fans from streaming live video from concerts like this. Or if they should try.

LA Times reviews Sheryl Crow’s ‘Detours’

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"Sheryl Crow has proven her mettle so many times that her unique position is now taken for granted. She may be the most successful woman rocker ever, with the most consistently auspicious career. But she’s still often dismissed as merely competent."

"Crow’s progressive lyrics hit like rubber-band pings fired by some joker in the back row at school. No one is likely to sing her verses at a march on Washington. But by addressing serious issues in the language of pop, they remind us that political speech and casual breeze-shooting can and do often intersect." [Full review]

TajTunes: Singing Valentine

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I got a call from India this afternoon. It was a singing telegram from Barb. A charming lady (with some backup by Mr. Baboo) sang the tune below. The story behind the website it equally entertaining. That they can do this for just $5 is pretty amazing.

“I’m So Happy”

I love it when you call me… (ring-a-ling-a-ling)
I love it when you sing… (lah lah lah lah LAH)
I love it when you hold my hand… (Awwwwww…)
And even when you cry… (wah wah wah)

I’m so happy. I’m so happy.
I’m so happy when I’m with you.
I’m so happy. I’m so happy.
I hope I make you happy too.

I love it when we spend time… (tick tock, tick tock)
I love it when we laugh… (hah hah hah)
I love it when we hug and kiss… (smooch)
And even when we fight…. (you jerk!)

I’m so happy. I’m so happy.
I’m so happy when I’m with you.
I’m so happy. I’m so happy.
I hope I make you happy too.

Oh yeah… I hope I make you happy too…
Oh yeah… I hope I make you happy too!

Brits tuning in to personalized Internet “radio”

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Mark Ramsey shares some thoughts on a story in the Sunday Times of London about the growing number of Brits tuning in to personalized Internet “radio” every week (and tuning out traditional radio).

Sunday Times: “Personalised broadcasts of the future will probably have either advertising or a price tag attached, just as they do today. But once your radio knows exactly what you want to hear, the idea of a human DJ – however cheeky his banter – might start to sound a little dated.”

Ramsey: “Over the long haul I fully expect the influence of music-oriented radio to diminish. Because music, my friends, is a commodity. Not only can anyone string together a playlist, but nobody can string together my favorite playlist better than I can.”

“What it all adds up to is the gradual near-obsolescence of music radio, not in a blink, but by a slow and persistent siphoning of audience and attention and interest and advertisers. This process will take years to happen.”

I read a lot of stories like this but very few on the impact of Internet “stations” on non-music formats. Are news-talk formats feeling any effect from the web? My radio pals can feel free to post an anonymous comment.

Yes We Can – Obama Music Video

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Blogger (and Hillary supporter) Jeff Jarvis dismisses this little ditty –and Obama’s campaign– as "the most rhetorical of the bunch: speeches and slogans so neat they can fit in 4/4 time."

What was the title of the "song" (early 70s?) that incorporated bits of speeches by MLK, JFK and Bobby Kennedy? Was it Abraham, Martin and John? Seems like there was another one but I can’t come up with it.

UPDATE: But smays.com reader Dale could. In 1971, DJ Tom Clay combined Jackie DeShannon’s What the World Needs Now with Dion’s Abraham, Marltin and John, and the speeches referenced above. Clay died in 1995 at the age of 66.

Download What the World Needs Now.mp3