It’s Tuesday again and we are serving up another Terrific Tune. This week it’s from the early 90s. The video is for “Ghost Of A Texas Ladies Man” by Concrete Blonde (learn more). This band released a bunch of really good albums and a couple that were only so-so. Buy their album Recollection for a greatest hits package and then buy Bloodletting, Walking In London, Mexican Moon, and Still In Hollywood and then go from there.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, this video is a strange blend of the old west (saloons, trains, etc) and some modern rock with a twang. View it full-screen, and don’t just check out Johnette Napolitano, the singer (learn more). And how cool is this for a song subject anyway? It’s a hella clever concept and cool lyrics too. Watch it…

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Are these classic rock lyrics, or what?

I look just like Buddy Holly
And you’re Mary Tyler Moore
I don’t care what they say about us anyway
I don’t care about that

Yep, today’s terrific tune is “Buddy Holly” by nerd-rockers Weezer (learn more). It’s a totally catchy pop song. The video (below) was a big hit in the 90s and it’s well worth seeing again. It’s a parody of homage to the nostalgic sit-com Happy Days, the show about the 50s and how simple and cool things were back then. At Arnold’s Diner, everyone is squeeky clean and wholesome (except for “The Fonz”, who, of course, always got the girl). So Weezer hams it up and looks as nerdy and geeky as the rest of the cast. It’s a nice mash-up (before there were mash-ups everywhere) of a music video with images from a TV show. Check it out and try not to sing along!

Oh, and here’s an interesting side note about this video. It became so popular that it was included on the Microsoft Windows 95 CD-ROM when the operating system was first released. How’s that for famous?

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Today’s Terrific Tune features a classic artist who has been making music for over 40 years. Most of that music is really good, some of it great. OK, maybe not everything. But lots of it. Anyway, here is Neil Young performing at the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Celebration (more info). He’s doing a cover of Bob’s “All Along The Watchtower”, made famous in the excellent Jimi Hendrix version. Neil rocks out, moving to his own inner beat as only he can do, and makes some wonderful noise come out of his guitar. Very cool…

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The Terrific Tune for today is an alternate version of a classic early 80s (late 70s?) track by one of my favorites, The Pretenders. The song is Back On The Chain Gang and it was a great single back in the day. That was the rock (pop?) version. But here, Chrissie Hynde and the boys do an excellent acoustic version. It looks to be from the Isle Of View tour in the 90s. The Pretenders are a really good band and are still working and putting out new music. They deserve to be much bigger than they are, IMNSHO…

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Greetings once again faithful readers. Today’s terrific tune is one you may not have heard but should have. It’s Stan Ridgway’s “The Big Heat”, from his first solo album. He was formerly the singer and main songwriter for Wall Of Voodoo, a great but weird band from the bay area known mostly for their unlikely hit “Mexican Radio”. Anyway, Stan has released a lot of interesting music since then on his own. If you want to explore it, The Big Heat album is a great place to start. There’s also a version of the CD with some bonus tracks if you love a bargain. His music is atmospheric, an aural landscape inspired by the moody film noirs of the 40s and 50s, but with a modern new-wave sensibility thrown in too. Check out the video and then buy some of his music, he could probably use the money!

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This week’s Terrific Tune is “I’m Wrong About Everything” by John Wesley Harding. He’s a very talented singer-songwriter who sometimes does “gangsta-folk” (as he calls his folk music) and also sometimes does clever and catchy pop. This song was on the soundtrack for the film High Fidelity and also ended up on one of Wes’ albums. It’s kind of a mellowish pop song with some clever self-depreciating lyrics. I’ll likely use more of his music as time goes by because there’s plenty of variety in his stuff. And it’s always intelligent and well-written. Anyway, I’ve got everything by him and we’ll start with this. Check it out!

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Today’s terrific tune is a pretty cool video too. It’s one of my favorite bands Death Cab For Cutie and it is their official video for “Grapevine Fires”. It looks cool, sounds good, is moving, and thankfully it’s much different from most of the crappy videos you see on the music channels (when they even show videos, that is). If you don’t know Death Cab For Cutie, then, NO they are not a metal, headbanger, or heavy screamer band. Not at all! They have accessible and interesting music with very clever and literate lyrics. Sometimes they rock a bit more but it’s never overpowering. You NEED their platinum-selling, grammy-nominated album “Plans” for sure and their latest effort Narrow Stairs is pretty good too. That’s where the song in this video comes from. I like Plans better and would suggest it as a good DCFC starting point. Besides those latest two albums, there are a bunch of others and EPs too, but the earlier albums are a bit less polished. Still, there’s plenty of good material throughout their impressive catalog.

Check out the video:

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Today’s terrific tune is a live version of Beck doing his hit “Where It’s At” from his must-own album Odelay. He’s a strange guy but he’s just weird enough and just different enough that he is usually pretty interesting. This performance is from an MTV Live special way back somewhere around 2005, but I could be a little bit off on that timeframe. Anyway, he’s cool, and the song is cool, so check it out.

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Today’s terrific tune is the classic “Red House” performed by (who else) Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. Is it just a little dated? Well, it was forty years ago! And no, it isn’t really dated. Jimi is arguably the greatest guitar player ever and not bad in other departments either. Every music collection should include his “Electric Ladyland” and probably “Are You Experienced” and “Axis: Bold As Love” too. Check him out in this video and know that I actually saw him in concert once. Yeah, I know, that makes me old. But having seen Jimi almost makes it worth being old! Almost…

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Today’s terrific tune is one of my favorite Beatles songs, “I Am The Walrus”. It’s always been a wonderfully weird song, coming from the height of the psychedlic sixties. Very trip-worthy, as they might have said back in the day. This video is kind of cheesy and goofy but you can see that they were having a great time with this classic song. And after all, they were the best group ever. Check it out and let me know what you think! Goo goo ga joob!!

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Today’s terrific tune is a classic from new wave popsters Blondie.

No, wait, it’s a classic from 60s rockers The Doors.

No wait again, today’s terrific tune is two – two – two songs in one! It’s a mash-up of The Doors “Riders On The Storm” and Blondie’s “Rapture” and it’s called “Rapture Riders”. I’ve always loved Debbie Harry’s rap in Rapture, which was one of the first mainstream pop songs to use rap. That might have turned out to be a mixed blessing but at the time it was cool. And Jim Morrison and The Doors, well, they are a classic group and he is a dead superstar. I’m not a huge fan but I like them ok. And this mash-up is, well, kind of fun. Check it out.

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Today’s terrific tune is from way back in the seventies. Singer-songwriter Jackson Browne wrote a great song called The Pretender, which ended up being the title track of one of his best albums. This clip is from 1994 and shows Jackson briefly discussing the song and then playing a really nice solo piano version of it. This song is an example of personal yet universal songwriting and Jackson is a major talent. Check it out!

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Today’s terrific tune is a classic electro-pop song from dark synth-meisters Depeche Mode. It’s their moody pop-goth semi-ballad “Enjoy The Silence”. This is one of my favorites of theirs. It creates a nice electronic groove and has their trademark vocals with some cool lyrics. It was a big hit and is still played every now and then on the radio but some people hate it for it’s supposed cold sound and some even call it depressing. Naaa, no way! Those bubbly synths are cool. And who doesn’t enjoy silence every now and then?

This is the official video, which is strange but somehow kind of fitting.

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