tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post7017549760032861297..comments2024-03-07T07:01:59.636-08:00Comments on The Song In My Head Today: Holly A Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17828633442418722187noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-50149389934605645952019-10-03T06:20:57.102-07:002019-10-03T06:20:57.102-07:00Holly This song popped into my memory yesterday a...Holly This song popped into my memory yesterday and stuck with me for the day. I did a little research on the tune and found your delightful review. My take on this song is that it one of those perfect gems where the harmony, mood, tone, and overall feeling just come together to freeze a shared experience. I think it was very much similar to a lot of merseybeat songs and I put it in the same folder as others like Needles and pins, Dont let the sun catch you crying and Caroline No. A more contemporary song that captures the "whatever" that makes these songs great would be Love was my alibi. Thanks for listening :)WIneCandleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09483609379693867116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-24386713185213591602018-11-19T12:46:44.864-08:002018-11-19T12:46:44.864-08:00Hunh. Sorry you read it that way. What I love abou...Hunh. Sorry you read it that way. What I love about this song is that it's still magical even after you analyze it. <br />Holly A Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17828633442418722187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-79388132996194320642018-11-16T16:09:49.952-08:002018-11-16T16:09:49.952-08:00What a terribly cynical interpretation What a terribly cynical interpretation Kbcpuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15905058923723581254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-88298137444653879762018-05-25T17:51:00.617-07:002018-05-25T17:51:00.617-07:00Holly
Hi this song never stops tugging my heart. W...Holly<br />Hi this song never stops tugging my heart. When it starts I just stop what I’m doing and drift back to the Jersey shore in the summers of 1966 or 65. They’re interchangeable for me. <br />Life on the beach was good but as you and the song hint to, it all has to end by Labor Day. <br />The singer makes it all too clear that he sees it even if she doesn’t. I had several summer loves and I love those girls even now that I’m an old man. Those memories can never be taken from me. Too bad you and I were never summer lovers. I have a feeling losing you to Autumn would have been very sad.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04646799187461176783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-13236342941840318022018-05-25T17:49:20.784-07:002018-05-25T17:49:20.784-07:00Holly
Hi this song never stops tugging my heart. W...Holly<br />Hi this song never stops tugging my heart. When it starts I just stop what I’m doing and drift back to the Jersey shore in the summers of 1966 or 65. They’re interchangeable for me. <br />Life on the beach was good but as you and the song hint to, it all has to end by Labor Day. <br />The singer makes it all too clear that he sees it even if she doesn’t. I had several summer loves and I love those girls even now that I’m an old man. Those memories can never be taken from me. Too bad you and I were never summer lovers. I have a feeling losing you to Autumn would have been very sad.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04646799187461176783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-76902374440482209492016-11-15T11:17:42.114-08:002016-11-15T11:17:42.114-08:00Great blog on this classic song! Well put, thanks!...Great blog on this classic song! Well put, thanks!chris3chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00907118261022923921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-22704170940727414022016-10-11T12:51:54.216-07:002016-10-11T12:51:54.216-07:00It's just nice to see appreciation for the ear...It's just nice to see appreciation for the early Jersey boys.<br /><br />I'm going to slide a couple of his songs into the playlist on my radio show this Friday (on WERU Community Radio, WERU.org) <br /><br />:)BlubirdDaazenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-27582820023051199462016-10-11T11:00:04.812-07:002016-10-11T11:00:04.812-07:00I had not heard that -- thanks for letting me know...I had not heard that -- thanks for letting me know. I see that after serving in the Air Force in Vietnam, he toured for years with the Four Seasons and then Tommy James & the Shondells. He was only 70. Quite a loss to the music world. Here's a link to the obituary: http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/notable-deaths/article/don-ciccone Holly A Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17828633442418722187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-37145751765710564472016-10-11T10:32:53.004-07:002016-10-11T10:32:53.004-07:00The author of this song, Don Ciccone, unfortunatel...The author of this song, Don Ciccone, unfortunately just died yesterday. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-68369435355346493502016-09-21T18:32:46.135-07:002016-09-21T18:32:46.135-07:00All couched in a hauntingly beautiful melody with ...All couched in a hauntingly beautiful melody with soft, harmonic background vocals, mostly minor and 7th chords, with 6th thrown in the Bridge, an air sadness permeates throughout the hazy, late summer images, even though the narrator/singer is with the girl of his dreams...she seems so happy with no intention of leaving him...so, why is he so sad? This is not revealed until the last verse...they have made 'love' on the beach, and now he's happy...which is what he wanted all the along. He's proven his manhood, she's now his, and all's right with the world...ah the stuff they got away with in songs of yesteryear...yet the songs are still beautiful, enjoyable and have transcended Time and Space. <br /><br />Take Lou Christie's 'LIGHTNING STRIKES',for example: beautiful music, great background vocals, hooky chorus, and what's all this lovely melange add up to? Orgasms! But for me, alas, was a musical one. Great music will do that to you...Yrrettenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-30107965918200961752016-05-09T09:03:38.309-07:002016-05-09T09:03:38.309-07:00Good news. Music Choice has added this to its rota...Good news. Music Choice has added this to its rotation on the "Solid Gold Oldies" station. I've heard it twice in the last two days, and every time I do I get chills. Thank you for so eloquently describing just what makes this song so special.Brandyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02110327928422268498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-19901394760304902522014-09-18T19:10:55.175-07:002014-09-18T19:10:55.175-07:00And the mystery is solved! What a great bit of pop...And the mystery is solved! What a great bit of pop info that is. In fact I love these guys even more for slipping Doris's name in. My grandmother was called Doris and on her behalf, I gratefully thank you for this!Holly A Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17828633442418722187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-86552090782761129122014-09-18T18:39:48.344-07:002014-09-18T18:39:48.344-07:00No offense is ever intended but on the Critters An...No offense is ever intended but on the Critters Anthology album he said that the secretary who finally got them in to see the producer was honored with her royalty check by naming her in the song. The secretary was called Doris. The following lyric is the correct one.....<br /><br />Wake this land & stop the sea, show me love, oh Doris I'm your's!<br /><br />Thanks for letting me post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-21373967096391198692014-08-09T13:08:39.490-07:002014-08-09T13:08:39.490-07:00IMHO - This is one of the best songs ever written!...IMHO - This is one of the best songs ever written! I can't believe it's not covered all the time.Eneri Rosenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-51280853180620146152014-07-14T19:34:46.349-07:002014-07-14T19:34:46.349-07:00Thanks, Holly, this little gem has never gotten it...Thanks, Holly, this little gem has never gotten its proper place in the pop spectrum. I have never heard it on any type of oldies station--not even on the 'ten at ten' segment our local station used to do--"ten hits from one great year!"<br /><br />"Don't let the Rain Fall Down on me," "Have you seen her Face," and "Pretty Ballerina" all seem cut out of this same cloth, to me. Especially "Ballerina"--if I'd have known about headphones in those days I would have probably just disappeared into thin air while listening to that fade-out. Thanks for the good writing!Alloyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11313663811537642882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-25740352812730380062012-04-06T06:52:33.322-07:002012-04-06T06:52:33.322-07:00What a phenomenal review! MDS was the 'quinte...What a phenomenal review! MDS was the 'quintessential' prom song in the late 60's...go to a <br />dance...turn down the lights...no room on the [slow] dance floor. This 1968 12-year-old was working the concession stand at a 7th grade dance..with lots of<br /> older kids 'showing me the ropes'...to this song...see above!Jephynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-7377526877504531342012-04-01T18:20:55.370-07:002012-04-01T18:20:55.370-07:00OMG, what a wonderful recollection and subsequent ...OMG, what a wonderful recollection and subsequent comments!<br />Yes, there was always something <i>mystifyingly strange</i> and <b>wonderful</b> about that song!<br />I always thought it was "Oh Lois, I'm yours!" - The perfect line to inspire all of us nerdy "Clark Kent would-be Supermen" listeners hearing the tune. (And I also was a ham radio operator at the time!)<br />And the comments really blew my mind. <br />I mean, you really need to check out the David Bowie lyrics to "(Is There) Life on Mars" where he sings about the Beatles as "cavemen", or the whole "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" thing. Even "Starman"!<br />Then when you mentioned Karen Carpenter, I actually got chills,<br />because she channeled some Christmas encouragement my way after her death. The account is available at "LeadSister.com" in the articles section. Click on the bottom where it says "Fate magazine".<br /><i>"Calling Occupants"</i> indeed!<br />McCartney's another one: <i>"A good friend of mine studies the stars; Venus and Mars are alright tonight"</i> (wink wink)<br />Well.. Thank you again for giving that song its due! Your account should be posted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or perhaps the Roswell alien museum! Cheers!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-32933735298255174942011-01-27T12:46:12.591-08:002011-01-27T12:46:12.591-08:00I'm 63 years old now, and like you, this one t...I'm 63 years old now, and like you, this one turned me on my ear. Thanks for posting this. I have the album somewhere, but no record player to play it on. Glad to find it on youtube.<br />randyShabuwahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15565286299059718004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-79839581331465018382009-10-21T22:11:55.810-07:002009-10-21T22:11:55.810-07:00This is too funny! I'm going to have to go gi...This is too funny! I'm going to have to go give this Martian music idea a long consideration. I guess it's like pornography; you know it when you see it. <br /><br />And BTW I went to summer camp, but nothing so classy as the Berkshires or the 'Dacks. No, I went to a tiny church camp in the depths of southern Indiana -- about a stone's throw from where John Cougar Mellencamp grew up. (We used to sneak away to go suck on chili dogs at the same Tasty-Freeze as in the "Jack and Diane" video.) And there were absolutely no skinny proto-nerd boys at our camp -- or if there were, I couldn't see them. ;) <br /><br />Please, barf on my blog as often as you feel inspired.Holly A Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17828633442418722187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-72478221049592677492009-10-16T14:57:19.157-07:002009-10-16T14:57:19.157-07:00Well, to be honest, I don't know exactly. My ...Well, to be honest, I don't know exactly. My Martian designees have never been committed to paper, they're probably not even consistent over time. And really, now that I think about it, it's not even just "tracks", more like of a mix of certain tracks, certain artists, voices, styles, production values... <br /><br />The key characteristic of Martian music is that it has to have that "a guy came out of nowhere, hit my car, and vanished" shock quality to it, when you first hear it. Where you freeze in mid-syllable, or mid-whatever you were doing, the planet stops rotating and there is only... that sound! What is this? What... the... <i>hell</i> is this????<br /><br />Another dead giveaway is that when you listen to it with headphones, you realize that it's flawless in all dimensions: Music, lyrics (if it has), performance, production, emotional power. There are tons of songs that are great in one or two or three dimensions, but very few that really pass the mark across the board. Those are your Martian candidates.<br /><br />Btw, over-the-ear headphones are important. Martian production quality generally can't be detected without them. This is one technique they use to mask their presence here. (Roy Thinnes taught me this one.)<br /><br />Anyway, all of the above is entirely irrelevant. You don't need a Peterson's Field Guide to identify Martian music. When you hear it, you just know.<br /><br />So anyway, in the pop realm, I guess I'd offer that Ennio Morricone and Tom Jobim are/were both definitely Martian. Listen to anything of Jobim's and tell me with a straight face that there's not some kind of intergalactic sparkly dust involved in those chord changes. Uh huh, sure. No possibility whatever the guy was human.<br /><br />Morricone was better at disguising himself. He cut quite a few non-Martian tracks just to keep his head down, but if you listen to (e.g.) the original score to "tGtBatU", he's clearly Martian. Not the radio edit or the (entirely serviceable and pleasant) Hugo Montenegro cover; only the original: Tom-tom, coyote calls, grunting in tongues (how the hell did he score that?) clarino-trumpet shoot-out... completely insane and obviously extraterrestrial. Possibly the most dramatic 159 seconds of sound ever recorded on the surface of this planet. <br /><br />Also, Karen Carpenter's voice. I have my doubts as to whether Karen herself was actually an alien being like Jobim and Morricone, but they definitely got hold of her voice somehow and noodled around with it. The first three vocal bars of Superstar cause my limbic system to lock up into some kind of Martio-spasmodic seizure. Very dangerous when driving or cycling.<br /><br />Anyway, I could ramble on, but having already barfed long and hard on your blog here I'll refrain. But it would be great to hear your take on any of the above,<br /> or even better, your own Martian designees. <br /><br />Btw, Holly: Were you a summer camp-er? I was guessing from some of your self-quips that maybe you'd developed some of your formative sixties musical whimsy at one of those Adirondack or Berkshires summer camps that were so popular with parents back then. During the summers of '64 - '69 (or so) that's where I was. So while you were honing your drippy teenage girl skills, pining over boys who didn't know you existed, I was working earnestly on my insecure skinny ham radio proto-nerd persona: Scrawny, thick glasses, totally invisible to girls. Yag. I still remember exactly how it felt, their gazes streaming right thru my body like neutrinos. You were non-existent, I was transparent.<br /><br />Uf. Coming-of-age nostalgia. Ain't what it used to be.Glennnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-24571677201853050182009-10-14T14:09:41.983-07:002009-10-14T14:09:41.983-07:00[smacks hand against forehead] AT LAST THE MYSTERY...[smacks hand against forehead] AT LAST THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED -- that explains it all!!!<br /><br />I love your term "Martian music." For the record, what are the other cuts that qualify?Holly A Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17828633442418722187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-16209995083152974732009-10-14T13:33:20.147-07:002009-10-14T13:33:20.147-07:00Great blog, Holly. You've got a wonderful writ...Great blog, Holly. You've got a wonderful writing style and your commentary<br />and observations are sometimes so spot on with my own that it's a little<br />scary. Like reading what I would have written, except I didn't. (And except<br />your prose is way better, too...). Anyway, I've really enjoyed reading it,<br />and fwiw, it's cheered me up on some sad days. Thanks.<br /> <br />You've captured the essence of MDS beautifully here, couldn't agree more.<br />This song is the reference example of the half dozen or so tracks<br />-- heard over my entire lifetime -- that I call "Martian music": Compositions<br />with a performance and production quality so completely head-and-shoulders<br />above anything else of its genre that it has to have been the work of aliens.<br /><br />The UFOlogists have their fuzzy spaceship photos and crash-landing<br />folklore, but if anyone wants real evidence of alien visitation, just<br />clamp on a good set of over-the-ear headphones and listen to this song<br />in depth. It's just plain impossible. And in <i>every</i> dimension:<br />Harmony, rhythm, chord progression, production quality, vocal accuracy,<br />phrasing, lyrical expression,... even the <i>title</i>, fer cryin' out loud.<br />It is not of this planet. I believe that even in 2009 -- much less<br />mid-1966 -- it is physically impossible for humans to have produced<br />this sequence of vibrations. And this is coming from a guy who truly<br />loves C&J, Spoonful, Mamas&Papas, Classics IV,... but this piece is<br />simply of a different order.<br /><br />And btw, all this 'net folklore about the group breaking up because<br />"they went off to Vietnam", or Villanova, or some other "V" place, blah blah...<br />Don't get caught up in that pap, Holly. It's just disinformationist<br />bologna. They came here, cut this single, and flew back to Mars.Glennnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-80747361126811541862009-08-03T22:20:00.182-07:002009-08-03T22:20:00.182-07:00Has your sister forgiven you yet?
Yeah, the lyri...Has your sister forgiven you yet? <br /><br />Yeah, the lyrics do get kinda muddy in there -- considering how poetic he's trying to be, you'd think he'd pronounce the words more carefully. There's a whole lot of words in here I never really understood -- that strange syntax doesn't help! "Odors" makes just about as much sense...Holly A Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17828633442418722187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36596203.post-79613813638097825562009-08-03T16:51:10.400-07:002009-08-03T16:51:10.400-07:00"You say, 'Take my hand and walk with me ..."You say, 'Take my hand and walk with me / Wake this land and stop the sea / Show me love, unlock / All doors / I'm yours." <br /><br />And I always thought it was "Odors, I'm yours."<br />"Don't Let The Rain Fall Down On Me" was a cool tune too.<br /><br />Anyway, I saw the Critters at Morristown High in 1966...after the show one of the roadies nearly convinced my naive sister to go with him back to their hotel where he was going to make her the next big star. I wouldn't let her go...so the only thing she blew was her big chance at fame and fortune.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com