Tag: Los Angeles
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Song 98: Changes
“A Song from Under the Floorboard” – Magazine (1980) The Welders survived several personnel changes and our new members Colleen and Lyla helped us to grow musically. We played shows sporadically and also recorded a few times. I got tired of playing drums and wanted to be more creative so I moved to keyboards. I… Read more
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Song 97: One night at the Bluberry Jam
“Kimberly” by Patti Smith (1975) Of course, it was the advent of punk rock that really enabled The Welders to come to life. Raw, defiant and rockin’ – the punk movement railed against corporate rock, endless noodling guitar solos and hippies. This was right up our alley. With just-acquired second hand instruments that we were… Read more
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Song 96: Learning drum tricks by ear
“All the Way from Memphis” by Mott the Hoople (1973) In the early 1970s as a music-obsessed young teenager, my preferences began to radically diverge from the music that my peer group was listening to. In fact I remember in 8th grade, this seemingly cool girl told me her favorite band was Three Dog Night… Read more
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Song 95: Fictional TV band
“She” The Monkees (1967) To be perfectly honest, when I pictured myself in a rock band, it was entirely based on the tv show about a fictional band called “The Monkees”. Like the Monkees, my band would all live in a big house, we’d play music and have wacky adventures together. The Monkees were great… Read more
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Assignment 21: The songs that made me want to play in a rock n’ roll band
Name: Jane Fujimoto Location: Los Angeles Relationship to music: Musical hobbyist/former punk rocker Industry: Working in the field of digital asset management I met Jane at a former place of employment and we used to carpool together. Sometimes your co-workers have really interesting back stories. Stories I never would have learned if it weren’t for… Read more
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Song 83: Farewell song
“Coumba” by Orchestra Baobab “Coumba” is a farewell song. Coumba, Coumba qui a changé les couleurs Coumba, Coumba, la mer n’est plus bleu pour toi By the time “Coumba” was released on Pirate’s Choice—that exemplar of the 80’s “discovery” of “world music”—Orchestra Baobab’s inventive fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythm with jazz and local Wolof and Mandinka… Read more
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Song 81: Cult films
“Many Rivers to Cross” by Jimmy Cliff The next song on the list also involves a Spaghetti Western mashup but in a radically different context. The Harder They Come was a surprise international hit—an independent, feature-length Jamaican film with an irresistible soundtrack that slowly climbed its way into cult classic status. More importantly, it offered… Read more
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Song 80: Schizophrenic with dark alleyways and sundrenched corrals
“The Big Gundown” performed by John Zorn. If the 13th Floor Elevators are the band I associate most with my dad, John Zorn seems most twinned to my dad’s restless and experimental spirit—and what better example of this than Zorn’s mashup of legendary Spaghetti Western composer, Ennio Morricone! My dad loves Westerns and Film Noir.… Read more
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Song 79: Pioneers of Psychedelic Rock
“Roller Coaster” by The 13th Floor Elevators Written by Matt “Recently, it has become possible for man to chemically alter his mental state and thus alter his point of view (that is, his own basic relation with the outside world which determines how he stores his information). He then can restructure his thinking and change… Read more
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Assignment 18: The story of Dad
Name: Matt Moore Location: Los Angeles, CA Relation to music: listener and dabbler Industry: Digital librarianship Introduction When I first learned of Kristen’s fantastic Five Song Project, I immediately started thinking what sort of theme I might choose if I were ever fortunate enough to contribute. At first it was difficult to narrow things down—that… Read more