Lists of random things

[Jimmy]

[mr x]

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Some really cool pics in there.

[mr x]

10 of the best: Bruce Springsteen
It’s deep cuts only for our survey of the Boss’s catalogue: no hit singles, nothing with ‘Born’ in the title. You get the picture …

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1. Thundercrack

Back in the early days of Bruce Springsteen’s career, when he played to audiences who didn’t know him or his music, his plan of attack involved hitting the audience with a large, loud, long showstopper at the end of the set, one that would make them pay attention and remember the band after they had finished. Thundercrack is the grandaddy of Springsteen’s epic journeys and would only be replaced when he wrote Rosalita (Come Out Tonight). The vocals are loose and playful, while behind Springsteen the band are absolutely airtight, a glorious swirl of organ, piano and vocals, plenty of sha-las and whoa-ohs, backed by the unmistakable feel of Vini Lopez on the drums. By the time you get to the guitar solo and Clarence Clemons’s sax interlude, you’re sure the song is ending any minute now … only for it to start up again. By the end of Thundercrack’s almost nine minutes you feel like you’ve been a private guest at a raucous and unpredictable house party, somewhere on the Jersey Shore, standing there barefoot with a cold beer in your hand, all night (as the song says).
2. So Young and in Love

Springsteen’s core sound is based on the music he loved when growing up, but on this track he wears his heart visibly and proudly on his sleeve. He makes no bones about channelling his idols here: he is Wilson Pickett, Sam Moore and Jackie Wilson, strutting his stuff along the edge of a stage in a dark nightclub, jacket slung over his shoulder as he works the adoring crowd. This song swings, pure and simple, thanks to the rhythm section, all solid bass and hi-hat; it’s a delightful melange of sax and keyboards and hearty backing vocals, from when all the members of the E Street Band had microphones. (It’s believed this track was recorded just after Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan joined the band in August 1974, answering a Village Voice ad for musicians that specified: “All must sing.”) There are rat traps and soul crusaders (predating the ones we’d meet later on Night, from Born to Run), and more than anything else, the performance captures the emotions implied by the song’s title.
3. Roulette

Springsteen was in the studio for over a year across 1979 and 1980 while recording The River, and as a result there were piles of outtakes left over, some of which might have been better than the songs that made it on to the album. Inspired by the Three Mile Island nuclear power-plant incident (it was recorded three days afterwards and was the first song cut during the River sessions), this absolute piledriver of a song is Springsteen at his most dramatic. The full-speed-ahead drum roll at the start of the track is accompanied by an excited, driving vocal; the lyrics and phrasing parachute the listener directly into heart of the action; you aren’t allowed to be a casual observer. “We left the toys out in the yard,” he begins, setting a vivid, intense scene that never diminishes. At the end of the last verse, Max Weinberg rides the hi-hat, cueing an almost-breathless Springsteen to lead you through the maze of action to the song’s close. And then that drum roll, reprised from the beginning, slows down like a pulse and fades out at the end. If it sounds insane, that’s because it is. “It would have been one of the best things on the record,” Springsteen told Mojo in 1998.
4. Be True

Another River-era outtake, this track would surface on the B-side of the 1980 single Fade Away, a perfect antidote to that song’s plaintive sadness. On the surface it’s a delightful little love song – the narrator telling his girl he’s just as good as the stars she daydreams about – but there’s a deeper theme of not selling yourself short and of getting what you deserve, all tied together with movie metaphors. Musically it’s got the E Street Band at their best in that era, bouncing along with organ and piano at the forefront and Clarence Clemons on the tambourine, before he comes in with a crisp, perfect sax solo at the end. This is another track Springsteen would later say should have been on the album: “I’m sure they [Be True and Roulette] would’ve been better than a couple other things that we threw on there,” he told Rolling Stone in 1988. Like many of Springsteen’s love songs, live – as in the version on our Spotify playlist – he often turns the sentiment around on the audience, exhorting “Is it a deal?” at the end of the last chorus.
5. This Hard Land

The country influence that began to appear in Springsteen’s songs as he moved into the 80s should not have been surprising, as his interests, tastes and influences expanded. This Hard Land is a Western movie in five minutes, a story of friendship and brotherhood told through the life of a brother and a sister in the south-west of the US; you can see the dust, feel the saddle, hear the floorboards creaking underfoot. It was written for Born in the USA, wouldn’t have been out of place on Nebraska, and finally emerged live onstage in 1993. It’s almost country but not quite; it’s almost rock but not quite that either. No matter how you want to label it, it’s an absolutely beautiful, rollicking, wide-open song with a gorgeously narrated story. It’s become a special moment in the live show, whether performed with the band or as a solo acoustic encore. When Springsteen closed his 2013 European tour in Kilkenny, Ireland, he was visibly emotional as he sang the last verse: “If you can’t make it — stay hard! Stay hungry! Stay alive! If you can / And meet me in a dream of this hard land.”

Reading on mobile? Listen to this playlist on Spotify here
6. My Love Will Not Let You Down

If you’re ever at a Springsteen concert and this is the first number, you’re in for a barnburner of a night. On its face this is a love song, a pledge of passion and dedication, but it’s also become a symbol of Springsteen’s promise to the fans, and a thank you for their devotion and commitment. “I got me a promise that I ain’t afraid to make,” he pledges, holding the guitar up against his heart, strumming extra hard for emphasis, underscoring his words. It’s a rhythmic, powerful anthem that’s all guitars, except for Roy Bitttan’s elegant underpinning, and it should be the theme song for the latter-day E Street Band. Manager Jon Landau originally favoured it to open side two of Born in the USA, for which it was originally recorded, before the album took another direction entirely.
7. Seeds

As Springsteen’s cultural frame of reference expanded, so did his political and social consciousness, and this was his first attempt to catalyse the latter in his songwriting. Seeds came out of the Born in the USA sessions and is a specific exploration of a specific poverty: another tale of trying to follow the American dream, this time chasing after the oil boom just as it went bust. You feel the anger in the delivery of the lyrics and the rock-solid rhythm, underscored by crunchy and highly satisfying guitar chords courtesy of Nils Lofgren. When it’s in the setlist, it’s for a reason, especially during the Reagan years, where it would feature in a run including Johnny 99, Atlantic City and The River, or in the aftermath of the first Bush presidency where it would stand alongside Youngstown and The Ghost of Tom Joad. It sadly remains as relevant today as it was when he wrote it, but at least that means we’ll get to hear it live for years to come.
8. The Wish

After years of Springsteen writing about his stormy relationship with his father, this track about his mother, Adele, emerged during the Tunnel of Love sessions. While the melody is simple, the song’s strength is in its lyrics — the images are bright, beautiful and vivid. You can picture the Christmas tree and the scene during the holidays at the Springsteen household, and that stays with you as the story brings you to the later days of success, wealth and Springsteen’s own start to building a family. It’s the bright flipside to the story told in The Promise, and one he has admitted was about as directly autobiographical as he’s ever been.
9. Seven Angels

Even though Springsteen moved into the 90s without the E Street Band, his predilection for a great soul shouter didn’t diminish, despite all the synthesisers. This exploration of the dilemma of a man in love — is this true love? What if I’m wrong? What if I’m right? — is a straight-ahead stomper with a good old-fashioned rock’n’roll rhythm section. Springsteen screams, he sings, he growls, he hollers, he whispers, and makes you feel the various flavours of inner turmoil being voiced in the lyrics. It’s absolutely glorious from beginning to end and a shame it’s never come out in the live show.
10. Back in Your Arms

This is the quintessential Springsteen soul ballad, which made its first appearance in the Blood Brothers documentary in 1996. When Back in Your Arms appears in performance it makes the women scream, but it also makes the men in the house turn just a little misty. It’s a heartbreaker, plain and simple, and it’s all about Springsteen’s vocal performance: if it doesn’t make your bottom lip tremble just a little bit, I’m not sure you’re human. There’s some lovely keyboard work from Roy Bittan, which adds the right mood and colour, and Clarence Clemons’s soul sax is the cherry on top.

[mr x]

18 of the most bizarre car names to ever exist

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[mr x]

10 things that put people off cycling
Census data reveals commuter cycling has stagnated in the UK. Our readers suggest reasons why this might be

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[mr x]

The 50 best covers of all time: do you agree with the latest poll?
Always on My Mind by the Pet Shop Boys has been voted the best ever cover song in a recent BBC census, which lists the best 50. So what did the listeners miss?

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1. Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind
2. Johnny Cash - Hurt
3. The Stranglers - Walk On By
4. Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower
5. Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
6. Soft Cell - Tainted Love
7. Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends
8. Sinead O’Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U
9. Muse - Feeling Good
10. Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
11. Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
12. Adele - Make You Feel My Love
13. This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren
14. The Clash - I Fought The Law
15. China Drum - Wuthering Heights
16. Nirvana - The Man Who Sold The World
17. Aretha Franklin - Respect
18. Eva Cassidy - Songbird
19. Leona Lewis - Run
20. Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks
21. Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody
22. Florence + the Machine - You’ve Got The Love
23. Mark Ronson - Valerie (feat. Amy Winehouse)
24. Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe
25. The Fall - Lost In Music
26. Gary Jules - Mad World (feat. Michael Andrews)
27. Bryan Ferry - A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
28. The Specials - A Message To You Rudy
29. Birdy - Skinny Love
30. Fugees - Killing Me Softly With His Song
31. The Pogues - Dirty Old Town
32. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Good Year For The Roses
33. José González - Heartbeats
34. The Isley Brothers - Summer Breeze
35. Thin Lizzy - Rosalie
36. Talking Heads - Take Me To The River
37. David Bowie - China Girl
38. Urge Overkill - Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon
39. Ryan Adams - Wonderwall
40. Nina Simone - Mr. Bojangles
41. Hüsker Dü - Eight Miles High
42. José Feliciano - Light My Fire
43. Earth, Wind & Fire - Got To Get You Into My Life
44. Santana - Oye Como Va
45. James Blake - Limit To Your Love
46. Billy Paul - Your Song
47. Richie Havens - Going Back To My Roots
48. Labrinth - Express Yourself
49. Prince Fatty - Shimmy Shimmy Ya (feat. Horseman)
50. D’Angelo – Cruisin

[jeffsmith]

I'd put 2 and 4 ahead of Pet Shop Boys.

[bluenose]

I'd put 2 and 4 ahead of Pet Shop Boys.

#5 too

I just listened to Express Yourself by Labrinth (whom I've never heard of) and it's pretty catchy... maybe even better than the NWA version

[akr71]

I'd put 2 and 4 ahead of Pet Shop Boys.

I would put a recording of my dog farting ahead of anything by the Pet Shop Boys

#14, #28, #38 are all higher on my list - though the Dead Kennedys' cover of "I Fought the Law" is pretty good too.
#37 isn't technically a cover since Bowie & Iggy Pop co-wrote it together

I don't see Motorhead's cover of Louie Louie on the list - the whole thing falls apart right there...

[mr x]

It's interesting for sure.