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Welcome to My Nightmare Album: Welcome To My Nightmare (1975) Public Animal #9 Album: School's Out (1972) Alma Mater Album: School's Out (1972) Grande Finale Album: School's Out (1972) by Alice Cooper Simon Stålenhag (born 20 January 1984) is a Swedish artist, musician, and designer specialising in retro-futuristic digital images focused on nostalgic Swedish countryside alternate history environments. The settings of his artwork have formed the basis for the 2020 Amazon television drama series Tales from the Loop as well as the upcoming film The Electric State. Most of Stålenhag's artwork was initially available online, before later being released for sale as prints. Since then, it has been turned into two narrative art books: Tales from the Loop (Swedish Ur Varselklotet) in 2014 and Things from the Flood (Swedish Flodskörden) in 2016. Both focus on the construction of a supermassive particle accelerator called the Loop. Stålenhag grew up in a rural environment near Stockholm, and began illustrating local landscapes at a young age. He was inspired by different artists, including Lars Jonsson. Stålenhag experimented with science fiction artwork after discovering concept artists such as Ralph McQuarrie and Syd Mead; initially, this body of work was done as a side project, without any planning behind it. Thematically, his work often combines his childhood with themes from sci-fi movies, resulting in a stereotypical Swedish landscape with a neofuturistic bent. According to Stålenhag, this focus originates from his perceived lack of connection with adulthood, with the science fiction elements being added in part to draw audience attention and partly to influence the work's mood. These ideas result in a body of work that can feature giant robots and megastructures alongside regular Swedish items like Volvo and Saab cars. As his work has evolved, Stålenhag has created a backstory for it, focused around a governmental underground facility. In parallel with the real-life decline of the Swedish welfare state, large machines slowly fail, and the eventual result of this remains a mystery. In a 2013 interview with The Verge, Stålenhag said, "The only difference in the world of my art and our world is that ... ever since the early 20th century, attitudes and budgets were much more in favour of science and technology." Outside of his usual canon, Stålenhag also drew 28 pictures of dinosaurs for the Swedish Museum of Natural History's prehistoric exhibits after he rediscovered his childhood interest in the creatures, and contacted the museum to see if he could do anything. In 2016, he followed this with pictures of hypothetical results of a rising ocean under climate change for Stockholm University's Resilience Centre. He also did some promotional artwork for the sci-fi video game No Man's Sky. Stålenhag uses a Wacom tablet and computer for his work, which is designed to resemble oil painting. Initially, he attempted to use various physical media to mimic a more traditional style, including gouache. Even after switching to digital methods, he has stated that he puts "a lot of effort into making the digital brushes behave naturally and preserve a certain amount of 'handwriting' in the brush strokes." The majority of his work is based on pre-existing photographs that he takes; these are then used as a starting point for a number of rough sketches before the final work is completed. "Welcome to My Nightmare" is the title track to Alice Cooper's eighth studio album. The song is written by Cooper, Dick Wagner and Bob Ezrin. It peaked at 45 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song itself mixes elements from disco, jazz, hard rock, and keeps a "heavy-yet-funky beat". Cooper would later perform the song on The Muppet Show. Acoustic guitar is played by Dick Wagner, bass by Tony Levin, clarinet by Jozef Chirowski, drums by Johnny "Bee" Badanjek, and electric guitar by Steve Hunter. This was the centerpiece to Cooper's 1975 tour, which opened with this song and set the stage for the macabre scenes that followed. Cooper approached the song as a production number, and that's how he performed it. For the tour, the musicians were hidden in the back of the stage while Alice performed with various dancers and props. He would emerge in a haze of smoke, singing this song on a bed; the rest of the show was based on the idea that we were seeing his nightmares brought to life. Any meaning in Welcome to My Nightmare is up to the listener, as Alice explained, "I project images to the audience and they make up their own story to fit it. I have no message at all. I never did." In 1975, Cooper turned the stage show built around this song into a concert movie called Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare, and a TV movie called The Nightmare. The famous horror movie actor Vincent Price played "The Spirit of the Nightmare," narrating the show. The movie was a precursor to long-form music videos, as it was a theatrical production set to music. The most famous long-form video arrived in 1984 with Michael Jackson's "Thriller," also featuring narration from Vincent Price. School's Out is the fifth studio album by Alice Cooper, released in June 1972. Following on from the success of Killer, School's Out reached No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 chart and No. 1 on the Canadian RPM 100 Top Albums chart, holding the top position for four weeks. The title (and song) were inspired by a warning often said in Bowery Boys movies in which one of the characters declares to another, "School is out," meaning "to wise up." The Bowery Boys were characters featured in 48 movies that ran from 1946-1958. They were young tough guys in New York City who were always finding trouble. The movies ran on American TV throughout the '60s and '70s, eating up a lot of air time on independent stations. It was one of these TV viewings that Cooper saw. In the film, the character Sach (Huntz Hall) did something dumb, which prompted one of the other guys to say, "Hey, Sach, School's Out!" In a 2008 Esquire interview, Cooper said: "When we did 'School's Out,' I knew we had just done the national anthem. I've become the Francis Scott Key of the last day of school." The School's Out album opens like a school desk and contains a pair of paper panties. This is the kind of added value you just don't get with CDs or digital media. The original album cover (designed by Craig Braun) had the sleeve opening in the manner of a wooden school desk, similar to Thinks: School Stinks, by Hotlegs, released two years earlier. The vinyl record inside was wrapped in a pair of panties, though this was later discontinued as the paper panties were found to be flammable. The desk photographed for the album cover is on display in the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas. Ian Chapman has put forward a theory that it was a concept album about youth lost when leaving school. Cooper has said he was inspired to write the song when answering the question, "What's the greatest three minutes of your life?". Cooper said: "There's two times during the year. One is Christmas morning, when you're just getting ready to open the presents. The greed factor is right there. The next one is the last three minutes of the last day of school when you're sitting there and it's like a slow fuse burning. I said, 'If we can catch that three minutes in a song, it's going to be so big." Cooper starred in a TV commercial for Staples where a young girl is forced to shop for school supplies while a Muzak version of this song plays. She looks at Cooper and says, "I thought you said School's out forever." He replies, "No, the song goes, 'School's out for summer'. Nice try, though." At this point, the real version of the song kicks in. Not on this cut but three songs from the albnum are. side 2 track 2 Public Animal #9 Written by: Alice Cooper, Michael O. Bruce Album: School's Out side 2 track 3 Alma Mater Some of the most underated solid HS Band Musica Ever... Written by: Neal A. Smith Album: School's Out side 2 track 4 Grande Finale Written by: Cooper, Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, Bob Ezrin, Smith, Mack David, and Elmer Bernstein, Elmer Bernstein, Elmer Bernstein Album: School's Out

Never Let Me Down Again Album: Music For The Masses (1987) Personal Jesus Album: Violator (1989) by Depeche Mode Written by Martin Gore with lead vocals by Dave Gahan, "Never Let Me Down Again" is one of the most ambiguous Depeche Mode songs. It is often believed to be about drugs, which offer both comfort and excitement to the singer. When Gahan sings, "We're flying high, we're watching the world pass us by," that indicates getting high on drugs, but the song could also have a much more literal meaning about taking an airplane ride with a friend. It gets even more confusing near the end of the song, with the lines: Promises me I'm safe as houses As long as I remember who's wearing the trousers Someone or something is making sure he knows his place. Another possibility is that the song is about gay sex. Leaving it open for interpretation was likely Gore's intention. The band brought in Anton Corbijn to do the visuals for the Music For The Masses album, including the photos and the videos. For this song, he put together an 8-minute black-and-white clip for the 12-inch single version, which was cut down to 4:23 for the single version. The video, which was included on the Depeche Mode compilation Strange, didn't shed any light on the meaning of the song, as we see a series of rather disjointed images, including a pair of shoes that walk themselves. The song enjoyed a streaming boost in the US after it was included in the HBO series The Last Of Us. It plays on the radio in the final scene of the show's pilot episode on January 15, 2023. Craig Mazin, the co-creator of the series, selected the song because of its combination of cheerful sounds and gloomy lyrics. He believed the title of the song relates to the relationship between the two main protagonists, Joel and Ellie. Dave Gahan watched the Last Of Us pilot episode in bed with his wife. "I was falling asleep and the show came on and I was watching it a bit," he recalled to BBC Radio 2's Gary Davies. "And then I fell asleep. And then suddenly in my dream, I could hear the beginning of Never Let Me Down and I sat up and like a boxer, hearing the bell, like going to go in and fight or something. And I heard it. And so I watched that scene and I liked it as well because the song represents that particular time in music. It represents trouble, it means trouble was coming. That was the code and I thought, 'This is perfect for that.'" Personal Jesus was inspired by Priscilla Presley's book Elvis And Me, where she described their relationship. Martin Gore of Depeche Mode said: "It's a song about being a Jesus for somebody else, someone to give you hope and care. It's about how Elvis was her man and her mentor and how often that happens in love relationships - how everybody's heart is like a god in some way, and that's not a very balanced view of someone, is it?" Johnny Cash did a stripped-down version of Personal Jesus on his 2002 album American IV, The Man Comes Around. Martin Gore revealed to The London Times that the band were unaware that Cash had covered this song. When they heard about the country legend's recording, the threesome were naturally thrilled. Said Gore: "I think when you're somebody of Johnny Cash's caliber, you don't ask for permission." Cash explained why he chose to cover Personal Jesus (as quoted in Mojo October 2013): "I heard that as a gospel song. And if you think of it as a gospel song, it works really well. We didn't have any major disagreement over that song, I just heard that a couple of people had recorded it, the writer wanted me to try it, and I did, and I loved it. And I went for it." This was the biggest-selling 12-inch single in Warner Bros. history to that point. The video for Personal Jesus was the first by Depeche Mode to get significant airplay on MTV. Directed by Anton Corbijn, it has an Old West theme, with Dave Gahan and Martin Gore as cowboys. During the heavy breathing section of the song (around 2:20), there are some tight silhouette shots of Gore huffing, and then a shot of a horse's hindquarters. "I don't know if Anton was consciously trying to be perverted, I think it was more coincidental that it happened at that point," Gore told Uncut. "These video people see things very strangely." It was a little too much for MTV, so Corbijn made an edit eliminating some of the silhouette breathing, and that was the version the network aired. Marilyn Manson covered Personal Jesus on their 2004 album Lest We Forget. This version was used in the trailer for the 2011 movie Priest. The 2008 Hillary Duff song "Reach Out" is based on Personal Jesus. Duff's tune changes the lyrics from "Reach out and touch faith" to "Reach out and touch me." Def Leppard covered Personal Jesus for their 2018 The Story So Far: The Best of Def Leppard compilation album. They chose that particular track as the band's producer and sound tech Ronan McHugh plays "Personal Jesus" every day to test the PA.

No Surprises Album: OK Computer (1997) Karma Police Album: OK Computer (1997) Creep Album: Pablo Honey (1992) by Radiohead All art is not exclusively Simon Stålenhag, but all art is Stålenhagish. It's what I tied the room togeather with. Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke: "I spent a lot of time trying not to do voices like mine. The voices on 'Karma Police,' 'Paranoid Android' and 'Climbing up the Walls' are all different personas. No Surprises is someone who's trying hard to keep it together but can't." Bassist Colin Greenwood: "'No Surprises' is our 'stadium-friendly' song. The idea was: First frighten everyone with Climbing Up The Walls and then comfort them again with a Pop song with a chorus that sounds like a lullaby." Thom Yorke introduced the rest of the band to this song in their dressing room in Oslo, Norway, following a support gig to REM on August 3,1995. Later the lyrics were rewritten and a new glockenspiel melody was added. Yorke (from Humo magazine July 22, 1997): "We wanted it to have the atmosphere of Marvin Gaye. Or Louis Armstrong's 'Wonderful World.'" Thom Yorke told Q magazine a song such as "No Surprises" has to be played a certain way for it to work live. "If you play it right, it is f--king dark," he said. "But it's like acting. It's on the edge of totally hamming it up but you're not. It's just the words are so dark. When we play it, we have to play it slow. It only sounds good if it's fragile." The video for No Surprises, directed by Grant Lee, is one continuous shot of Yorke, who is trapped in a water chamber that fills midway through the song. He holds his breath for nearly a minute before the water recedes, at which point he gasps for breath and continues miming the song. Karma Police is about fate and how it will always catch up with you. The band members used to warn each other that the "karma police" would get them if they didn't behave. Thom Yorke: "Karma is important. The idea that something like karma exists makes me happy. It makes me smile. 'Karma Police' is dedicated to everyone who works for a big firm. It's a song against bosses." The video for Karma Police is one of the most memorable of its era. Directed by Jonathan Glazer, who had previously worked on the Radiohead video for "Street Spirit (Fade out)," it shows Thom Yorke in the back seat of a 1976 Chrysler New Yorker, which is driven down a dark road by a driver we never see. When a disheveled man appears in the headlights running from the vehicle, it seems whoever is in the car is after him. But then this man lights a book of matches and ignites a trail of gasoline that leads to the vehicle, setting it on fire. The video seems suited for the song, as karma strikes the driver, but Glazer didn't write it with Radiohead in mind. He came up with the idea for Marilyn Manson, who was looking for a video for his song "Long Hard Road Out of Hell" and had Glazer watch the David Lynch film Lost Highway for inspiration. In the opening credits of the film, a car is driving down a dark, deserted road, shot from the perspective of the vehicle looking down on the road. This image formed the basis of Glazer's story, but Manson rejected it. Radiohead was much more receptive, and took the idea. The video for Karma Police was championed by Matt Pinfield, host of the MTV show 120 Minutes, where it got lots of exposure in America. Guitarist Ed O'Brien said in an interview in Humo magazine: "When someone in the band behaved like an a--hole, one of the others always said: 'The Karma Police is gonna get you.' I suppose it's all rubbish that your destiny depends on your deeds in a previous life, but you have to trust on something." The video was shot in Cambridgeshire, England in a shoot that required a number of takes and some digital trickery to get the shot of the trail of fire. The actor playing the man on the road burned his thumb from repeatedly lighting the book of matches; that fire and the first few feet of the trail were real, but the rest of it was shot under similar conditions (and at the same angle) nearby and superimposed onto the shot. According to OK Computer producer Nigel Godrich, the wall of feedback that makes up the second half of the song is something he and Yorke came up with on their own in the studio after Yorke told him he didn't like what they had down for that part of the song. "It's not like the band playing," Godrich told Rolling Stone. "It's just samples and loops and his sort of thing over the top, which sort of was the forerunner of a lot of things to come, good or bad." What was to come was the next Radiohead album, Kid A, which fragmented the band as it was done largely in pieces composed by Yorke using electronic instruments. There is a lot of self-loathing in Creep, where Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke sings, "But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo." When asked about Creep in 1993, Yorke said, "I have a real problem being a man in the '90s... Any man with any sensitivity or conscience toward the opposite sex would have a problem. To actually assert yourself in a masculine way without looking like you're in a hard-rock band is a very difficult thing to do... It comes back to the music we write, which is not effeminate, but it's not brutal in its arrogance. It is one of the things I'm always trying: To assert a sexual persona and on the other hand trying desperately to negate it." On the other hand, guitarist/keyboardist Jonny Greenwood said Creep was in fact a happy song about "recognizing what you are." Yorke says this is about being in love with someone, but not feeling good enough. He describes the feeling as, "There's the beautiful people and then there's the rest of us." Yorke wrote Creep in 1987 while he was a student at Exeter University in England. He first recorded it acoustic. This was written before the band formed. Yorke gave his demo version to Colin Greenwood, who joined him and helped put the band together. "Creep" wasn't released in the US until Radiohead's debut album in 1993. The band finished college and signed their record deal in 1991. Yorke based this on a song called "The Air That I Breathe," which was written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood in 1972. After "Creep" was released, Radiohead agreed to share the songwriting royalties, so this is credited to Yorke, Hammond and Hazlewood. Creep did well in the US, but not in their native England. When they released their third album, O.K. Computer, Radiohead was huge in England but not in the US. On the album version, Thom Yorke sings, "You're so f--king special." For radio, he recut it as, "You're so very special." Yorke regrets changing the line for the radio version, saying it disturbed the "sentiment of the song." According to him, the song lost its anger as a result. According to Q magazine April 2008, the recording of Creep came about as a result of producers Sean Slade and Paul Q Kolderie struggling with "Inside My Head" and "Lurgee." They remembered a track that that the band had played in rehearsal, introduced by Yorke as "our Scott Walker song." This portrait of an outsider was then recorded in one take. The video, directed by Brett Turnbull, was recorded at a club in Oxford called The Zodiac. One of the extras in the crowd scenes is a teenage Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet. The producer and DJ has remixed Thom Yorke and Radiohead tracks and also supported Radiohead on tour. This is nicknamed "Crap" by the band due its slacker-anthem ubiquity. When Creep was first released in England in 1992, the song flopped. It did well when it was re-released a year later, after Radiohead grew a fan base. The three blasts of guitar noise that precede the chorus was the result of Jonny Greenwood trying to sabotage a tune he considered too "wimpy." Yorke claims he received fan mail from "murderers" saying how much they could relate to Creep. Prince performed Creep at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2008. He also played Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" and The Beatles' "Come Together." Creep returned to the UK singles chart in August 2010 after X-Factor auditionee Hollie Burns performed it on the show. According to the book Radiohead: Hysterical and Useless, this song was inspired by Thom's obsession with a stranger. He was infatuated with a woman who was out of his league, who he'd never met but frequently saw in bars, and he found himself following her around. When he finally got himself drunk enough to build up the courage to confess his obsession, she freaked out. The first country this charted in was Israel. Coof appropiate Coof Lea Michele and Dean Geyer performed Creep on Glee in the 2013 episode "Guilty Pleasures." This was featured on the TV series Community in the 2014 episode "Basic Intergluteal Numismatics." Charlotte Church cites Creep as the song she wished she'd written. "It's just transcended all musical boundaries," she told NME. "People who are into hip-hop or hard house or whatever like it. There's just something about that song that, no matter who you are, you're going to respond pretty positively to it - especially in a festival situation." The 2023 movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 starts off with a somber Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) singing "Creep" as he ponders on his traumatic past. Its prominent placement in the film's soundtrack struck a chord with audiences, propelling it back onto the UK Singles chart.

Working Man Album: Rush (1974) by Rush Rush released their self-titled debut album on their own label, Moon Records, in 1974. A DJ named Donna Halper at WMMS in Cleveland, Ohio, listened to the last track, "Working Man," and put it on the air, giving the band liftoff. It fit her criteria for three reasons: 1) Cleveland was a working town, and the lyrics were very relatable to their audience. 2) WMMS was an album-oriented rock station, so they looked for songs that other stations weren't playing. 3) Running 7:07, the song gave plenty of time for the DJ to take a bathroom or smoke break. Immediately, the radio station received calls from people asking when the new Led Zeppelin album was coming out; they were surprised to learn that the vocalist was not Robert Plant, but Geddy Lee, lead singer for a new band called Rush. Thanks to the airplay, the album picked up steam in Cleveland and got the attention of Mercury Records, which signed the band and re-released the album with their promotional might behind it. With the backing of a major label, Rush soon became one of the most popular rock bands in the US and Canada. This was one of the few popular Rush songs not co-written by Neil Peart, who hadn't joined the group yet (John Rutsey was their drummer). Like most songs on their debut album, "Working Man" was written by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. This song tells the story of a typical working man, stuck his routine of putting in his hours, coming home, then doing it all over again the next day. He has greater ambitions, but doesn't seem to have the will to act on them: It seems to me I could live my life A lot better than I think I am Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson never had 9-5s like this guy, but they did put in the work, playing any gig they could get after forming the band while they were still in high school. Does this sound like a certain Led Zeppelin song? Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett told Martin Popoff that it sounds a lot like "Heartbreaker." Working Man was used in a 2014 commercial for Walmart, where they touted their support of American factories. Longtime Rush roadie Ian Grandy once heard Geddy Lee state that if there is one "ultimate" Rush song, it's "Working Man." This was the last song Rush played live, using it as the capper to their R40 Live tour, which ended on August 1, 2015 with a show at The Forum near Los Angeles. On the tour, they played songs in reverse chronological order, starting with their newest songs and working backwards, with the backdrops changing to reflect the era. The band didn't announce it as a farewell tour, but did say it would "most likely be their last major tour of this magnitude." Neil Peart had threatened retirement before, but this time he was more resolute: He was wearing down physically and wanted to spend more time with his young daughter. When the show ended, he "crossed the back-line meridian" for the first time, joining Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson at the front of the stage to take a bow. A year later, Peart developed brain cancer, which only his closest confidants knew until his death was announced on January 10, 2020 - he had died three days earlier. Well, I get up at seven, yeah And I go to work at nine I got no time for livin' Yes, I'm workin' all the time It seems to me I could live my life A lot better than I think I am I guess that's why they call me They call me the workin' man They call me the workin' man I guess that's what I am 'Cause I get home at five o'clock And I take myself out an ice cold beer Always seem to be wonderin' Why there's nothin' goin' down here It seems to me I could live my life A lot better than I think I am I guess that's why they call me The workin' man Well, they call me the workin' man I guess that's what I am Well, they call me the workin' man I guess that's what I am Well, I get up at seven, yeah And I'll go to work at nine I got no time for livin' Yes, I'm workin' all the time It seems to me I could live my life A lot better than I think I am I guess that's why they call me They call me the workin' man Well, they call me the workin' man I guess that's what I am They call me the workin' man I guess that's what I am

Kashmir Album: Physical Graffiti (1975) by Led Zeppelin All band members agreed Kashmir was one of their best musical achievements. Robert Plant said it was "One of my favorites... it was so positive, lyrically." Page has answered the question "What is the greatest Zeppelin riff of all" by citing this song. Plant wrote the lyrics in 1973 while driving through the Sahara Desert on the way to the National Festival of folklore in Morocco. Kashmir is in Southern Asia; he was nowhere near it. In Mojo magazine, September 2010, Plant explained: "'Kashmir' came from a trip Jimmy and me made down the Moroccan Atlantic coast, from Agadir down to Sidi Ifni. We were just the same as the other hippies really." The original title was "Driving To Kashmir." This runs 8:31. Radio stations had no problem playing it, especially after "Stairway To Heaven," which was almost as long, did so well. Kashmir, also known as Cashmere, is a lush mountain region North of Pakistan. India and Pakistan have disputed control of the area for years. The fabric Cashmere is made from the hair of goats from the region. The area is also famous for growing poppies, from which heroin is made. Plant thinks John Bonham's drumming is the key to this: "It was what he didn't do that made it work." The signature guitar riff began as a tuning cycle Jimmy Page had been using for years. This is one of the few Zeppelin songs to use outside musicians. Session players were brought in for the string and horn sections. Jimmy Page said (Rolling Stone, 2012): "I knew that this wasn't just something guitar-based. All of the guitar parts would be on there. But the orchestra needed to sit there, reflecting those other parts, doing what the guitars were but with the colors of a symphony." Speaking with Dan Rather in 2018, Robert Plant said: "It was a great achievement to take such a monstrously dramatic musical piece and find a lyric that was ambiguous enough, and a delivery that was not over-pumped. It was almost the antithesis of the music, this lyric and this vocal delivery that was just about enough to get in there." Led Zeppelin played this in every live show from it's debut in 1975 to their last concert in 1980. Page and Plant recorded this with an orchestra and Moroccan musicians for their 1994 Unledded album. Puff Daddy (he wasn't Diddy yet) sampled this in 1998 for a song called "Come With Me." He performed it on Saturday Night Live with Page on guitar. The remaining members of Led Zeppelin performed this at the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary party in 1988 with Jason Bonham on drums. It was a mess - the keyboards got lost in the feed and Plant was bumped by a fan and forgot some of the words. They had more success when they performed the song on December 10, 2007 at a benefit show to raise money for the Ahmet Ertegun education fund. In the movie Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Mike Damone tells Mark Ratner, "When it comes down to making out, whenever possible, put on side one of Led Zeppelin 4. In the next scene, he is on the date with this song playing in the car. Cameron Crowe, who wrote the screenplay, couldn't get the rights to any of the songs on Led Zeppelin 4, so he used "Kashmir" instead. Crowe used Zeppelin's "That's The Way" on his 2001 movie Almost Famous. Plant said in an audio documentary that he loved this song not only because of its intensity, but also because it was so intense without being considered "heavy metal," a label none of the band liked. Jimmy Page: "The intensity of 'Kashmir' was such that when we had it completed, we knew there was something really hypnotic to it, we couldn't even describe such a quality. At the beginning, there was only Bonzo [drummer John Bonham] and me in Headley Grange. He played the rhythm on drums, and I found the riff as well as the overdubs which were thereafter duplicated by an orchestra, to bring more life to the track. It sounded so frightening at first..." Zeppelin's manager Peter Grant said: "I remember Bonzo having me listen to the demo of 'Kashmir' with only him and Jimmy. It was fantastic. What's funny is that after a first recording of the song, we found it sounded a bit like a dirge. We were in Paris, we had Atlantic listen to it, and we all thought it really sounded like a dirge. So Richard (Cole) was sent to Southall in London to find a Pakistanese orchestra. Jonesy put it all together and the final result was exactly what was needed. He was an exceptional arranger." "Kashmir" makes the "songs performed at the Super Bowl" list because a few seconds of it played during Shakira's set when she performed at halftime in the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers in 2020. Winner of the British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novel, Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly is a semi-autobiographical novel of drug addiction set in a future American dystopia — and the basis for the Hugo Award finalist film starring Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, and Robert Downey, Jr. A Scanner Darkly is about a descent into the deep fears of our 24-hour consumer society: the twilight of intellectual and emotional collapse... A fascinating portrait of 70s Californian counter-culture. The Guardian, Bob Arctor is a junkie and a drug dealer, both using and selling the mind-altering Substance D. Fred is a law enforcement agent, tasked with bringing Bob down. It sounds like a standard case. The only problem is that Bob and Fred are the same person. Substance D doesn’t just alter the mind, it splits it in two, and neither side knows what the other is doing or that it even exists. Now, both sides are growing increasingly paranoid as Bob tries to evade Fred while Fred tries to evade his suspicious bosses. In this dystopian future, friends can become enemies, good trips can turn terrifying, and cops and criminals are two sides of the same coin. Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face With stars to fill my dream I am a traveler of both time and space To be where I have been To sit with elders of the gentle race This world has seldom seen They talk of days for which they sit and wait All will be revealed They talk in song from tongues of lilting grace The sounds caress my ear And not a word I heard could I relate The story was quite clear Oh, oh, oh, oh Ooh, baby, I've been blind Oh yeah, mama, there ain't no denyin' Oh, ooh yes, I've been blind Mama, mama, ain't no denyin', no denyin' Oh, all I see, turns to brown As the sun burns the ground And my eyes fill with sand As I scan this wasted land Try to find, try to find the way I feel Oh, pilot of the storm who leaves no trace Like sorts inside a dream Leave the path that led me to that place Yellow desert stream Like Shangri-La beneath the summer moon I will return again As the dust that floats high in June We're moving through Kashmir Oh, father of the four winds fill my sails Cross the sea of years With no provision, but an open face Along the straits of fear Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Oh, when I'm on, when I'm on my way, yeah And my feet wear my fickle way to stay, yeah Ooh yeah, yeah, ooh yeah, yeah But I'm down, ooh yeah, yeah, ooh yeah, yeah But I'm down, so down Ooh, my baby, ooh, my baby Let me take you there Oh, oh, come on, come on Oh, let me take you there Let me take you there

After the Gold Rush When You Dance I can Really Love Album: After The Gold Rush (1970) by Neil Young I made this long ago with Microsoft Clip Champ... I've since moved on but the audio was horrible so I made it less horrible. 101 reasons I was never put in "marketing". Much love. Except for the track "Birds", recorded on June 30, 1970, at Sound City Studios, the remainder of the album was recorded at various sessions in a makeshift basement studio ("Redwood Studios") in Young's Topanga Canyon home during March and April 1970 with CSNY bassist Greg Reeves, Crazy Horse drummer Ralph Molina and burgeoning eighteen-year-old musical prodigy Nils Lofgren of the Washington, D.C.-based band Grin on piano. The incorporation of Lofgren was a characteristically idiosyncratic decision by Young, as Lofgren had not played keyboards on a regular basis prior to the sessions. Along with Jack Nitzsche, Lofgren would join an augmented Crazy Horse sans Young before enjoying success with his own group as well as solo cult success and membership in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Biographer Jimmy McDonough has asserted that Young was intentionally trying to combine Crazy Horse and CSNY on this release, with members of the former band appearing alongside Stephen Stills (who contributed backing vocals to "Only Love Can Break Your Heart") and Reeves. The cover art is a solarized image of Young passing an old woman at the New York University School of Law campus in the Greenwich Village district of New York City. The picture was taken by photographer Joel Bernstein and was reportedly out of focus. It was because of this he decided to mask the blurred face by solarizing the image. The photo is cropped; the original image included Young's friend and CSNY bandmate Graham Nash. Songs on the album were inspired by the Dean Stockwell-Herb Bermann screenplay for the unmade film After the Gold Rush. Young had read the screenplay and asked Stockwell if he could produce the soundtrack. Tracks that Young recalls as being written specifically for the film are "After the Gold Rush" and "Cripple Creek Ferry". The script has since been lost... "After the Gold Rush" is widely known as an environmentalism song, with its chorus, "Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 1970s" (changed to "in the 21st century" once the '70s ended). The song is actually far stranger than that, though. In the book Shakey, Jimmy McDonough summarizes that strangeness as well as anybody when he says, "Accompanied by a mournful French horn, Young tickles the ivories and sings a tale of time travel that culminates in an exodus to another planet." The song is structured to take listeners through time. The first verse in set in the Middle Ages, the second in the time it was written in, and the third in the future. In 1992, Young explained it thusly: "[It's] about three times in history: There's a Robin Hood scene, there's a fire scene in the present and there's the future... the air is yellow and red, ships are leaving, certain people can go and certain people can't... I think it's going to happen." After The Gold Rush is an acoustic album that led to many other confessional singer/songwriter works in the early '70s (James Taylor, Carole King, etc.). Young had injured his back lifting a slab of polished walnut and standing up to play his electric guitar was impossible. In addition, he had dropped Crazy Horse as his backing band so he prepared an album of acoustic songs. In his extensive biography on Mr. Young, author Jimmy McDonough reveals that After the Gold Rush was an album loosely conceptualized around a screenplay of the same named written by child star, and Neil Young neighbor, Dean Stockwell. Apparently the only two songs on the album that are based on the as-yet-unproduced screenplay are this song and "Crippled Creek Ferry," the closing song on the album. After the Gold Rush has been covered a variety of artists, including Thom Yorke of Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds. When Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt recorded After the Gold Rush in 1999 for their collaboration Trio II, they got some unique insight into the song from the man who wrote it. Said Parton: "When we were doing the Trio album, I asked Linda and Emmy what it meant, and they didn't know. So we called Neil Young, and he didn't know. We asked him, flat out, what it meant, and he said, 'Hell, I don't know. I just wrote it. It just depends on what I was taking at the time. I guess every verse has something different I'd taken.'" Two of the trio had previously recorded the song: Parton included a version with Alison Krauss on her 1996 album Treasures, and Ronstadt did a cover for her 1995 album Feels Like Home. Ronstadt listened to Young a lot when she was on the road touring, and particularly loved this song. "I would think, 'This is the future,'" she said. "Neil's seeing humans leaving the planet and go off to start a new space colony. I've always felt that Neil had a great deal of really uncanny prescience in his writing." New York songwriter Patti Smith recorded a stark piano-and-vocal cover of this ecological paean for the closing track of her 2012 album Banga. Her version features a children's choir singing the chorus at the end. "'Constantine's Dream,' the song before it, is such a dark song," Smith explained to Billboard magazine. "It ends so darkly, with Columbus having a dream of the environmental apocalypse of the 21st century. Even though I fear that myself, I didn't want to end the record that way. I wanted to write a song that was more like the dawn that gave some kind of hope. Then I happened to hear 'After the Gold Rush;' I was sitting in a cafe and thought at least the two verses of Neil's song said what I wanted to say because it has a sense of optimism, but it's also at a cost. So I thought I'd just sing that, because that's what I wanted to say... And having children sing that with all their innocence and purity, I felt that brings out the danger of what he wrote." In live performances, Young replaces the flute solo with a harmonica performance. Additionally, he's amended the final line to "Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 21st century" (it was originally "in the 1970s"). Randy Newman, who has generally been critical of Young's overtly political songs ("Southern Man" and "Alabama," for example) because they oversimplify complex topics, can't help but love After the Gold Rush. Said Newman: "I can't believe I liked 'After The Gold Rush,' because it doesn't hold up to analysis. I can't stand that sort of 'meadow rock' thing - Neil's doing it, and writing about a big issue in a simplistic way, but I still like it. I love it." On January 9, 2020, Patti Smith performed After the Gold Rush on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The performance created a lot of buzz. When You Dance I can Really Love was one of two singles released off After The Gold Rush (the other was "Only Love Can Break Your Heart"). It has remained a regular live-performance staple and favorite among Young fans ever since, which is interesting because lyrically it contains none of the subtle poeticism that characterizes most of Young's writing. As Randy Newman puts it, "'When you dance, I can really love' - I mean, that's a stupid thing to say to a girl. It's really low-end IQ - it isn't above 100 - and Neil is not a low-IQ guy. He did it on purpose. That's funny." The unforgettable piano on When You Dance I can Really Love is played by Jack Nitzsche. "That's a unique take," Young has said, "'cause that's the only take ever done in the studio by the Horse with Jack playing." Nitzsche was very skeptical about his piano role. Nils Lofgren described him as "a little looped, and not convinced he should be playing piano on this song. One minute he would be up for it and just love the music, the next it would 'I'm not gonna do it.'" He may have actually quit before getting the final record down, but Young continued pushing him. This is the last record, to Young's recollection, that Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten played on. "He wasn't lookin' too good at that point," Young said. Whitten was the central inspiration for "The Needle And The Damage Done" and one of the key inspirations for the Tonight's The Night album. According to Jimmy McDonough in Shakey, the band can be heard talking during the When You Dance I can Really Love's solo. His ears might be better than ours, but we can't discern it. Raphael Lacoste lives in Canada, Montreal, with his family since 2002. He was born in 1974 in Paris, but lived mostly around Bordeaux, south west of France until he left for Canada. He studied in 1993 at Fine Arts school, Art and Media option, Photography and Video, at the same time, he was photographer and composer for a theatre company "les Pygmalions". He was already attracted by the scenery, mood and lighting. The Company Gave him the opportunity in 1997 to work on "the little Prince" of St Exupéry, he did there his first 3D pictures that were projected on giant screens with Pani 6KW projectors, Raphael was also the screening coordinator. Later in 1998, he went to CNBDI school (Angouleme, France) and got a European Master of Art in 3D animation, his movie "Nîumb" was screened at Siggraph 2000, Imagina 2000, Anima mundi 2001... He had teachers like René Laloux, Director of "Time masters", "Gandahar", "Fantastic Planet"... Raphael was very impressed by the work of his teacher and learned a bit of his knowledge... Raphael Lacoste has been now Art director on Videogames and Cinematics (CG) for more than 7 years, he worked at Ubisoft on such licenses as Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed (VES, AIAS, GDC awarded). He won a VES Award in February 2006 for his work as Art Director on Prince of Persia the Two Thrones Cinematics. His Focus now is to work as Senior Concept Artist, Matte painter and production designer for Film. He is skilled particularly in environments, moods, picture composition and lighting (see portfolio). Raphael Lacoste was the Art Director at Ubisoft on such titles as Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed. Winning two VES Awards, in February 2006 for his work on the "Two Thrones" cut scene from Prince of Persia and in 2017 for his work on "Assassin's Creed Origins". Wanting to challenge himself in the film industry, Raphael stepped away from the game industry to work as a Matte Painter and Senior Concept Artist on such feature films as: Terminator Salvation, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Death Race, Immortals 2011, Repo Men, Jupiter Ascending... As of 2009, Raphael has returned to the video game industry, working as a Senior Art Director for Electronic Arts Montreal and Ubisoft, as Brand Art Director on the Assassin’s Creed Franchise... After working on many of the most successful assassin's Creed Titles, Raphael joined some of the original creators of the Franchise at Haven Studios inc as Artistic Director. After the Gold Rush is the third studio album by the Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released in September 1970 on Reprise Records, catalogue number RS 6383. It is one of four high-profile solo albums released by the members of folk rock group Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the wake of their chart-topping 1970 album Déjà Vu. Young's album consists mainly of country folk music along with several rock tracks, including "Southern Man". The material was inspired by the unproduced Dean Stockwell-Herb Bermann screenplay After the Gold Rush.

Walk Like an Egyptian Album: Different Light (1986) by The Bangles The songwriter Liam Sternberg wrote this. He got the idea when he was on a ferry boat and saw people struggling to keep their balance. The way they held out their arms and jerked around made it look like they were doing Egyptian movements, and if the boat moved suddenly, they would all topple over. Sternberg was part of a vibrant '70s music scene in Akron, Ohio, where he wrote and produced for the almost-famous Jane Aire & The Belvederes and Rachel Sweet. That gritty city is the antithesis of Los Angeles, but by the mid-'80s Akron was in musical decline and LA was where it was happening, so that's where he pitched his demos. The "Walk Like An Egyptian" demo, with a vocal by Marti Jones, got the attention of Bangles producer David Kahne, who had them record the song. The biggest hit for the Bangles, "Walk Like An Egyptian" gave them a new level of notoriety, but not the kind they wanted. Formed in 1981, they wrote their own songs and were a big part of the Los Angeles Paisley Underground movement, which included eclectic acts like Rain Parade and The Dream Syndicate. These Paisley bands did well with critics but never broke big, except the Bangles. Their first album, released in 1984, had a '60s sound with lots of clever, well-constructed songs written by their guitarists, Susanna Hoffs and Vicki Peterson. It did well and earned them a spot opening for Cyndi Lauper. Their second album, Different Light, was their breakthrough, but the big hits were songs written by outsiders. First came "Manic Monday," written by high-profile Bangles fan Prince. Then "If She Knew What She Wants," written by Jules Shear. Then came "Walk Like An Egyptian," a goofy romp written by another outside writer that the band didn't think would get released as a single because it was "too weird." It shot to #1 and became a sensation, but the group's rock pedigree took a hit. Suddenly they were known for this quasi-novelty song instead of their own compositions. The song does have their stamp on it though: every Bangle could sing, and three of them get a verse on "Egyptian." The guitar riff is also their distinctive sound, something Vicki Peterson had been developing for a while (check out "He's Got a Secret" from their first album). The Bangles didn't have a problem with the song itself, but when it made them famous it also made them miserable - they were burned out and their friendships fractured. The hits kept coming ("Eternal Flame," "In Your Room") until they couldn't it anymore; they broke up in 1989 at the peak of their powers. Hoffs launched a solo career that didn't get very far, and Vicki Peterson joined a roots-rock band called the Continental Drifters. In the late '90s, after enough water had passed under the bridge, the Bangles re-united. They still had some bitter feelings about "Walk Like An Egyptian," which came out in a VH1 Behind The Music where they talked about the song as a catalyst for their demise. But as years went by, the song took on a feeling of nostalgia and the group made peace with it. "These days I feel very differently about it than I did in the '90s, because to me it was such an odd moment," Vicki Peterson told Songfacts in 2018. "I actually loved doing it. I thought the song was brilliant, in the strangest way. I had fun recording it, minus a few hiccups here and there, because it wasn't a great time for us. But, the song itself, I thought, 'OK, we will never write anything like this. This takes the record to another level, so let's absolutely do this.'" She added: "It's so fun to do live because of how it's received by our audience: They are completely in love and having a blast. It reminds them of that time in high school, that time in college, whatever it is that connects to a moment of sheer fun and joy and silliness and dance moves. So, at this point in time, when we do it, I just have a blast." All members except drummer Debbi Peterson sang a verse. Peterson was originally supposed to sing the whole thing, but producer David Kahne had each member audition the lyrics to determine who would sing what verse. Debbi's sister Vicki Peterson got the first verse, bass player Michael Steele (a girl, despite the name) the second, and Susanna Hoffs the third. This was offered to Toni Basil, but she turned it down. The Bangles needed one more song to complete their album, so they took it. The difficult recording process caused a lot of tension within the band, which tried to share the spotlight in equal measure (literally: they insisted on four spotlights on stage). Leaving Debbi Peterson out of this one was a pivotal moment for the Bangles, who instead of standing up to producer David Kahne and insisting she have a part in the song, allowed her to be left out. They used a different producer (Davitt Sigerson) on their next album, but the fissures got deeper when Susanna Hoffs became the focus of their look and sound. Their chemistry turned combustible, leading to their 1989 breakup. In the US, this was the #1 song of 1987 according to Billboard's year-end chart. It held the top spot for four weeks. The video for this song made the band superstars, as it aired in heavy rotation on MTV. The Bangles became darlings of the network, but early on they weren't sold on the medium. Here are some quotes from 1985 where they kvetch: Debbi Peterson: "When you listen to a record you can imagine what they look like and what they were doing when they recorded, but when you see the video it ruins it for you." Susanna Hoffs: "I wish they could be more like movies. I wish they could somehow fulfill you, bring you through an experience." Bangles drummer Debbi Peterson didn't perform on this song at all; percussion was done with a drum machine. When they performed it live, which you can see in the video, Debbi abandoned her drum kit and moved out front with a tambourine as a backing track played the drums. The famous whistling after the guitar solo was machine made, according to Vicki Peterson. In concert, Debbi would mime it. Bangles bass player Michael Steele was a member of The Runaways, a groundbreaking all-female rock band of the '70s that never had a hit - their story was made into a movie in 2010. Steele was the second Runaway to become a hitmaker, following Joan Jett, whose 1981 cover of "I Love Rock And Roll" was a monster hit. Lita Ford became the third member to make it big when "Kiss Me Deadly" reached #12 US in 1988. "Walk Like an Egyptian" was one of the songs which were claimed to have been banned by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks. It was also included in a "list of records to be avoided" drawn up by the BBC during the Gulf War. Walk Like an Egyptian The Bangles All the old paintings on the tomb They do the sand dance, don't you know If they move too quick (oh way oh) They're falling down like a domino All the bazaar men by the Nile They got the money on a bet Gold crocodiles (oh way oh) They snap their teeth on your cigarette Foreign types with the hookah pipes say Way oh way oh, way oh way oh Walk like an Egyptian The blonde waitresses take their trays They spin around and they cross the floor They've got the moves (oh way oh) You drop your drink Then they bring you more All the school kids so sick of books They like the punk and the metal band When the buzzer rings (oh way oh) They're walking like an Egyptian All the kids in the marketplace say Way oh way oh, way oh way oh Walk like an Egyptian Slide your feet up the street Bend your back Shift your arm, then you pull it back Life is hard you know (oh way oh) So strike a pose on a Cadillac If you wanna find all the cops They're hanging out in the donut shop They sing and dance (oh way oh) They spin the clubs, cruise down the block All the Japanese with their yen The party boys call the Kremlin And the Chinese know (oh way oh) They walk the line like Egyptian All the cops in the donut shop say Way oh way oh, way oh way oh Walk like an Egyptian Walk like an Egyptian Written by: Liam Hillard Sternberg

St. Joe On The School Bus Album: Marcy Playground (1997) Sex And Candy Album: Marcy Playground (1997) Ancient Walls Of Flowers Album: Marcy Playground (1997) by Marcy Playground In an interview with Marcy Playground lead singer/songwriter John Wozniak, explained that "St. Joe On The School Bus" is about getting picked on on the school bus. It's not about anyone specific, but John did have some rough times at school. He told us: "I was bullied as a kid, and for a little period there I think I probably started bullying kids because I was bullied, and so I understand it. I don't know if it's bullying, but I got in a lot of fights after a while. Because I didn't like people getting in my face when I was young. Or getting in my friends' faces. And I'm Irish and Polish so I got in a lot of fights. But it started with just getting picked on." Marcy Playground is best-known for their hit "Sex and Candy." "St. Joe on the School Bus" was their next single, and the closest they came to another hit: it topped out at #8 on the US Modern Rock charts. Like many of Marcy Playground's videos, St. Joe On The School Bus is very surreal. It involves a child literally crying wolf and suffering the consequences. Wozniak told us: "That video was done by Hammer and Tongs, the guys that produced and directed The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy movie. These guys are funny. They're British. And they're very funny. I like their sense of humor. And I've seen a few of their videos, and not all of them are funny, but they had this great idea for that video, and I liked it." With images of "disco lemonade" and "double cherry pie," this is one of the more puzzling songs of the '90s, and according to Marcy Playground songwriter/lead singer John Wozniak, Sex And Candy pulls many things from many places. In an interview he explained: "Where did I get the 'sex and candy' part from? Well, I was dating a girl and she was going to Bryn Mawr College and it's where my dad teaches. And I was probably 17 or something like that and she was like 18. I always liked the older girls. (laughs) But we were in her dorm room, and her roommate came in and she saw us there, and she was like, 'Oh, it smells like sex and candy in here.' And I always remembered that. And that was back in the late '80s. And then when I was writing the song and I was coming up with all these weird disco-era references that I was making up, 'platform double suede' and all that business, I was like, 'hey, let's just throw in that phrase that's been sticking in my head for the last five years or whatever.' So I wrote that song in '92, '93, somewhere around there. And it didn't really come out until '97. That song had been at least in my consciousness since the late '80s. At least with the concepts behind it. But it's just about seeing some sexy girl and then falling in love, and then asking a dumb question to yourself... well, it's not even asking a question. It's just – I don't know!! I don't know. (laughing) I'm just gonna be straight up honest. I don't know. I'm telling you, when I was very young I experimented with drugs, but when I was writing these songs, I wasn't high. But it sounds like I was high." According to Wozniak, even though there's a lot going on in this song, it took him only an hour to write. Marcy Playground is named after the elementary school Wozniak attended in St. Paul, Minnessota, but the group formed in New York City in 1996. In 1997, they landed a deal with Capitol Records, which released their self-titled debut album. The first two singles were what Capitol thought were the most friendly tracks - "Poppies" and "Saint Joe On The School Bus" - but they were largely ignored. Some radio stations started playing the quirky album cut "Sex And Candy," so Capitol put that out as a single and it started a slow rise up the charts, reaching #8 on the Hot 100 in April 1998, over a year after the album came out. More impressively, it spent 15 weeks at #1 on the Modern Rock chart, a record at the time. The next single, "Sherry Fraser," was a flop, frustrating the band because they were proud of the album and worried about becoming a one-hit wonder, which they did. Their next album, Shapeshifter in 1999, didn't trouble the charts and in the '00s they didn't fit in at all with the rap-rock and teen pop that was all the rage. Dropped from Columbia, they released albums in 2004, 2009, and 2012, and did occasional tours, often with other '90s bands. The trippy video for Sex And Candy was created by Jamie Caliri, whose work includes the United Airlines "Dragon" commercial and the opening sequence of the TV show United States of Tara. His brother is Mario Calire, a drummer that has played in The Wallflowers and Ozomatli. John Wozniak told Songfacts: "He's got a really unique artsy sensibility that is very surreal. The imagery of it is really random. I mean, it's art. What we do is art. In the stuff I've done in the past there's not always a direct meaning, and I think that's the same with his video. He had a lot of very hidden subtexts in the video. Nowadays my songs are much simpler. They're about relationships, they're about my wife, they're about much simpler concepts." Cassie Steele, who acted on the TV shows Degrassi: The Next Generation and The L.A. Complex, covered Sex And Candy in 2014. That same year, Maroon 5 covered it on the deluxe version of their album V. "Sex And Candy" appears in the movies Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) and Back In The Day (2014). It also shows up in these TV shows: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist ("Zoey's Extraordinary Employee" - 2021) Hightown ("The White Whale" - 2020) Little Fires Everywhere ("The Spark" - 2020) Workaholics ("Good Mourning" - 2012) Cold Case ("That Woman" - 2007) John "Woz" Wozniak – guitar, lead vocals (1996–present) Dylan Keefe – bass, backing vocals (1996–present) Jared Kotler – drums, backing vocals, guitar (1996–1997)

In the Light Album: Physical Graffiti (1975) by Led Zeppelin The song was composed primarily by bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones on synthesizer, though singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page also received songwriting credits. The unique sound of the intro was created by Page using a bow on an acoustic guitar, as a backdrop to Jones' opening synthesizer solo. The song is based on an earlier band composition titled "In the Morning". Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones composed most of this on a synthesizer. They never played the song live because Jones could not reproduce the synthesizer sound outside the studio. Near the beginning of the song, Jimmy Page played his guitar with a violin bow. He also used the bow on "Dazed And Confused" and "How Many More Times." Talking about the song in the BBC book The Guitar Greats, Page said: "Once the vocal lines and phrasing were sorted out, you'd know where not to play, which was as important as knowing when you should play. With 'In The Light,' for instance, we knew exactly what its construction was going to be, but nevertheless, I had no idea at the time that John Paul Jones was going to come up with such an amazing synthesizer intro, plus there's all the bowed guitars at the beginning as well, to give the overall drone effect. We did quite a few things with drones on, like 'In The Evening' and all that, but when he did that start for 'In The Light' it was just unbelievable." This was one of Jimmy Page's favorite songs on Physical Graffiti. In the interviews preceding the release of the album, he spoke of the song as the follow-up to "Stairway To Heaven." In the Light Led Zeppelin Written by: John Paul Jones, James Patrick Page, Robert Anthony Plant Album: Physical Graffiti 1975 And if you feel that you can't go on And your will's sinkin' low Just believe, and you can't go wrong In the light you will find the road You will find the road Oh, did you ever believe that I could leave you Standing out in the cold I know how it feels 'cause I have slipped through To the very depths of my soul Ooh baby, I just want to show you what a clear view It is from every bend in the road Now listen to me Oh, whoa-whoa, as I was And really would be for you, too, honey As you would for me, oh, I would share your load Let me share your load Ooh, let me share, share your load And if you feel that you can't go on In the light you will find the road Though the winds of change may blow around you But that will always be so Whoa whoa, when love is pain it can devour you, but you are never alone I will share your load, I will share your load Baby, let me, oh, let me In the light Everybody needs the light Ooh yeah Ooh baby In the light, in the light, in the light Light, light, light, in the light Light, light, light, in the light, ooh, yeah Light, light, light, in the light Light, light, light, in the light Light, light, light, in the light, ooh, yeah Light, light, light, in the light

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap Album: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976 Europe 1981 USA) by AC/DC ACDC Dirty Deeds Dixie Boy Truck Stop Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap is the third studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, originally released only in Europe and Australia in 1976. The album was not released in the United States until 1981, more than one year after lead singer Bon Scott's death. This was also AC/DC's first album in its entirety to be recorded with the same lineup, rather than including at least one track recorded with a different bassist or drummer. Lead guitarist Angus Young got the song title from the 1962 animated cartoon series Beany and Cecil. The Show first aired on ABC Television and only ran for one season until the 26 episodes shown were cast as repeats for the next five years until it was recreated in 1968. The specific inspiration for the song name was the cartoon's main villain, "Dishonest John," who would carry around a business card that said, "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Holidays, Sundays, and Special Rates." This was recorded at Alberts Studios in Sydney, Australia in 1976 soon after the sessions that produced the Australian version of their TNT album. Regarding the lyrics, "Just ring: 3-6-2-4-3-6," this was an actual phone number in Australia at the time, and it also could describe the measurements of a very shapely woman: 36-24-36. A year later, the Commodores used the same measurements to describe a woman in their song "Brick House." Sir Mix-a-Lot, however, scoffed at these measurements in his 1992 hit "Baby Got Back," where he says: "36-24-36? Only if she's 5'3." Norman and Marilyn White, a couple from Libertyville, Illinois, sued the band for invasion of privacy after they were inundated with calls due to this song. Apparently, many AC/DC fans in the area dialed 3-6-2-4-3-6-8 (interpreting the "hey!" as "eight"), which was their phone number. The couple claimed they received hundreds of "lewd, suggestive and threatening" phone calls, presumably asking for various dirty deeds at low, low prices. The Whites asked for $250,000 in damages and demanded that the band re-record the song, but a judge ruled against them. First Amendment, you know. On a 2008 episode of The Simpsons where they team up on a stakeout, we learn that Homer Simpson and the pious Ned Flanders have some common ground in their musical tastes. Homer likes AC/DC, and Ned likes their Christian tribute band: AD/BC, and their version of this song, "Kindly Deeds Done For Free." Lesley Gore, known for '60s hits like "It's My Party," recorded this for the 2002 compilation album When Pigs Fly: Songs You Never Thought You'd Hear. Her version was produced by Mauro DeSantis, who worked with Cevin Soling on the track. Soling, who was executive producer of the album, told Songfacts why he chose this song for Gore: "Her stuff was fairly empowering as far as female artists and things that she was doing. So it's not like it was the complete stretch, but you still think kind of the lighter girl-group kind of music from the '60s, and here's something that's pretty hard-core aggressive. But at the same time, I certainly concede that she was doing edgy stuff in her own way, at the time." The song about murder for hire enjoyed a sales spike following drummer Phil Rudd being charged with trying to procure a murder in November 2014. The charge was soon dropped. The ending is one of the most famous screams in rock history. For those wondering, it's spelled: "Yaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggghhhhhh!" If you're havin' trouble with the high school head He's givin' you the blues You want to graduate, but not in his bed Here's what you gotta do Pick up the phone, I'm always home Call me anytime Just ring, 3-6-2-4-3-6, hey I lead a life of crime Dirty deeds (done dirt cheap) Dirty deeds (done dirt cheap) Dirty deeds (done dirt cheap) Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap You got problems in your life of love You got a broken heart He's double dealin' with your best friend That's when the teardrops start, fella Pick up the phone, I'm here alone Or make a social call Come right in, forget about him We'll have ourselves a ball, hey Dirty deeds (done dirt cheap) Dirty deeds (done dirt cheap) Dirty deeds (done dirt cheap) Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap (oh) Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap Oh yeah If you got a lady and you want her gone But you ain't got the guts She keeps naggin' at you night and day Enough to drive you nuts Pick up the phone, leave her alone It's time you made a stand For a fee, I'm happy to be Your back door man, woo Dirty deeds (done dirt cheap) Dirty deeds (done dirt cheap) Dirty deeds (done dirt cheap) Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap (yeah) Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap Concrete shoes, cyanide, TNT (Done dirt cheap) Neckties, contracts, high voltage (Done dirt cheap) (Dirty deeds) Do anything you want me to (Done dirt cheap) (Dirty deeds) Dirty deeds, dirty deeds (Done dirt cheap) Yeah If you got a lady and you want her gone (ah, ah, ah, ah) But you ain't got the guts (ah, ah, ah, ah) She keeps naggin' at you night and day (ah, ah, ah, ah) Enough to drive you nuts (ah, ah, ah, ah) Pick up the phone, leave her alone (ah, ah, ah, ah) It's time you made a stand (ah, ah, ah, ah) For a fee, I'm happy to be Your back-door man, hey Dirty deeds (done dirt cheap) Dirty deeds (done dirt cheap) Dirty deeds (done dirt cheap) Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap (yeah) Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap Concrete shoes Cyanide, TNT (done dirt cheap) Neck ties, contracts High voltage (done dirt cheap) Dirty deeds (do anything you want me to) Done dirt cheap Dirty deeds (dirty deeds, dirty deeds) Done dirt cheap Yaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggghhhhhh...

Santa Monica Album: Sparkle And Fade (1996) I Will Buy You A New Life Everything To Everyone Album: So Much For The Afterglow (1997) by Everclear Santa Monica is a seaside town in California where Everclear lead singer Art Alexakis grew up. He describes it as "Like LA, but on the coast." The warm weather, beaches and palm trees serve as iconic references in the song, as Alexakis explains: "I've lived in cold places and been in bad relationships, and I think everybody has a place in their mind that is like a safe haven. It's also about getting away from bad times... the ending of something is also the beginning of something new, whether it's with someone or getting out of a bad job, a bad way of life or an abusive relationship." Alexakis: "In the Eastern way of looking at things, 'Chaos' doesn't necessarily mean no boundaries, it means new beginnings. It's kind of one and the same, something that never ends. It's about getting to a point where you can leave bad things behind and just be self sufficient. There's a sense of romance about it. I feel like that very much now, but I was just getting to where I understood that when I wrote that song." On their 2003 tour, the band would pick an audience member to play guitar on Santa Monica. If that person didn't play well, he would get kicked off stage and replaced with someone else from the crowd. Everything To Everyone is a personal song written by lead singer Art Alexakis. When his daughter Anna was a baby, he and his ex-wife would go to a wealthy neighborhood in the West Hills of Portland, Oregon. They would look at the fancy houses, drive around and fantasize about living there. One day, after the success of Everclear, Art bought one of those houses and moved into the neighborhood. Alexakis: "It wasn't about the money, it was about a different kind of life, giving all of yourself to another person. It's the ultimate romantic song to me." Lead singer Art Alexakis says of "Everything To Everyone", "It's kind of an angry song. That person is within everybody, I think everybody has this ability to try and be everything to everyone, to try to please. I think there are 2 aspects of it - there's the pleaser, who doesn't always show his true self, always plays nice and as time goes on shows more and more of himself, but there's also the people who are everything to everyone who are manipulators and users." Art has encountered many of these people in the entertainment industry. I am still living with your ghost Lonely and dreaming of the west coast I don't wanna be your downtime I don't wanna be your stupid game With my big black boots and an old suitcase I do believe I'll find myself a new place I don't wanna be the bad guy I don't wanna do your sleepwalk dance anymore I just wanna see some palm trees I will try and shake away this disease We can live beside the ocean Leave the fire behind Swim out past the breakers Watch the world die We can live beside the ocean Leave the fire behind Swim out past the breakers Watch the world die I am still dreaming of your face Hungry and hollow for all the things you took away I don't wanna be your good time I don't wanna be your fall-back crutch anymore Walk right up into a brand new day Insane and rising in my own weird way I don't wanna be the bad guy I don't wanna do your sleepwalk dance anymore I just wanna feel some sunshine I just wanna find some place to be alone We can live beside the ocean Leave the fire behind Swim out past the breakers Watch the world die We can live beside the ocean Leave the fire behind Swim out past the breakers Watch the world die We can live beside the ocean Leave the fire behind Swim out past the breakers Watch the world die We can live beside the ocean Leave the fire behind Swim out past the breakers Watch the world die Yeah, watch the world die Yeah, watch the world die Yeah, watch the world die Yeah, watch the world die ~ Here is the money that I owe you Yes you can pay the bills I will give you more When I get paid again I hate those people who love to tell you Money is the root of all that kills They have never been poor They have never had the joy of a welfare christmas I know we will never look back You say you wake up crying Yes and you don't know why You get up and you go lay down Inside my baby's room Yeah, I guess I'm doing OK I moved in with the strangest guy Can you believe he actually thinks That I am really alive I will buy you a garden Where your flowers can bloom I will buy you a new car Perfect shiny and new I will buy you that big house Way up in the west hills I will buy you a new life Yes I will Yes, I know all about that other guy The handsome man with athletic thighs I know about all the time before With that obsessive little rich boy They might make you think you're happy Yeah maybe for a minute or two They can't make you laugh No they can't make you feel the way that I do I will buy you a garden Where your flowers can bloom I will buy you a new car Perfect shiny and new I will buy you that big house Way up in the west hills I will buy you a new life I will buy you a new life I know we can never look back Will you please let me stay the night Will you please let me stay the night No one will ever know I will buy you a garden Where your flowers can bloom I will buy you a new car Perfect shiny and new I will buy you that big house Way up in the west hills I will buy you a new life I will buy you a garden Where your flowers can bloom I will buy you a new car Perfect shiny and new I will buy you that big house Way up in the west hills I will buy you a new life I will buy you a new life I will buy you a new life I will buy you a new life I will buy you a new life I will buy you a new life I will buy you a new life ~ You put yourself in stupid places Yes I think you know it's true Situations where it's easy to look down on you I think you like to be the victim I think you like to be in pain I think you make yourself a victim Almost every single day [Chorus] You do what you do You say what you say You try to be everything to everyone You know all the right people You play all the right games You always try to be Everything to everyone Yeah you do it again You always do it again You say they taught you how to read and write They taught you how to count I say they taught you how to buy and sell Your own body by the pound I think you like to be their simple toy I think you love to play the clown I think you are blind to the fact That the hand you hold Is the hand that holds you down [Chorus] Spin around and fall down Do it again You stumble and you fall Yeah why won't you ever learn Spin around and fall down Do it again You stumble and you fall I wonder if you will ever learn Why won't you ever learn Come on now Do that stupid dance for me You do what they tell you to do You say what they say You try to be everything to everyone You jump through the big hoop You play all the right games You try to be Everything to everyone Spin around and fall down Do it again You stumble and you fall Yeah you do it again Spin around and fall down Do it again You stumble and you fall

The Jack Album: High Voltage (1976) Jailbreak Album: '74 Jailbreak (1984) by AC/DC "The Jack" is Australian slang for Gonorrhea, which is also known as "The Clap." AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott explained the origin of the song in a 1976 interview with Sounds. Said Scott: "We were living with this houseful of ladies who were all very friendly and everyone in the band had got the jack. So we wrote this song and the first time we did it on stage they were all in the front row with no idea what was goin' to happen. When it came to repeatin' 'She's got the jack' I pointed at them one after another." Added guitarist Angus Young: "After that, wherever we did the song the girls in the audience would run to the back of the hall." Bon Scott was known for his outrageous behavior both on and off stage. He told this story in the same Sounds interview: "One time I had the jack and this girl wanted f--kin' and she was so ugly I figured, s--t! Nobody else would have her so she wouldn't spread it. But when we'd finished she went next door to Phil (Rudd, their drummer) and gave it to him. And a few weeks later she sent him a doctor's bill for 35 dollars for the cure. Well, next time she came to a show I got her up on stage in the middle of 'The Jack' and explained how she'd got it wrong and it was me owed her the money." On mike that was. The Jack was released in Australia in 1975 on AC/DC's second album, T.N.T. Their first two Australian releases were combined to form High Voltage in 1976, which was their first album released worldwide. In concert, Bon Scott would sometimes share with the crowd a more direct set of lyrics than the one on the recording of The Jack. He also did a bit where he would introduce the song by singing (to the tune of "Maria" from West Side Story): AC/DC played The Jack before a crowd of 500,000 at show in Toronto in 2003. The concert, which also featured The Rolling Stones, Rush, and others, was a benefit for the city, which suffered a drop in tourism due to the spread of a rare disease called SARS (Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome). AC/DC had no problem singing about one disease at a benefit for another, and the fans didn't mind either. Thank you, thank you, thank you people, thank you, thank you I'm glad you like the show, yes, thank you very much folks. Goodnight and God bless! Jailbreak is about Mark Brandon Reid, also known as "Chopper." He was sent to jail for murdering a gang leader and he got sentenced to 16 years. Three years into his sentence Chopper became disillusioned with jail life and hated working for the "screws." His friend and crime partner Jimmy Loughnan planned an escape, but because of Jimmy's fear of tight spaces, they were caught and given solitary for two weeks. Bon Scott read about this in a newspaper and started writing lyrics for a song. Everyone in AC/DC loved the idea of a criminal-themed song, and they finished it in about a week. AC/DC made a reasonably high-end performance video for Jailbreak, complete with the boys playing on a bunch of rocks as various explosions go on around them. On February 19th, 1980, the body of Bon Scott, lead singer of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, was found in his car having asphyxiated on his own vomit after a night of drinking. Nothing seemed particularly off the night previous. A mate of his, Alistair Kinnear, was driving him home when he noticed Scott had fallen asleep, not surprising since they had been drinking. So, he called Silver Smith and they lowered the seat so that Scott could sleep on his back. In the morning, Kinnear found Scott still asleep, brought him to the hospital in a panic, and learned he was already dead shortly after. By this point, Scott had been with AC/DC for six years and the band was rising ever higher. Their sixth album, Highway to Hell, had just broken the US Top 100, a first for the band. A successful promotional tour had just ended and Malcolm and Angus Young were just beginning to play around with songs for the next album. Scott was supposed to start singing the next day. Scottish Brothers Malcolm and Angus Young might be larger-than-life, but in person, it's a bit of a different story. Older brother Malcolm is the taller of the two, at only 5-foot-3. Angus stands all of 5-foot-2. One suspects Bonn Scott was murdered prior to the production of Maximum Overdrive and that the direction Scott wanted to go was perhaps somewhat different than the record company wanted. What Tavistock wants, Tavistock gets. Scottish Brothers indeed...

Nasa Space Shuttle Challenger Hoax 1986

Safe European Home Album: Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978) by The Clash Safe European Home The Clash Give 'Em Enough Rope is the second studio album by the English punk rock band the Clash, released on 10 November 1978 through CBS Records. It was their first album released in the United States, preceding the US version of the self-titled studio album. Side One Song One "Safe European Home" The meaning behind this song is made clear by a story The Clash have told about a writing trip to Jamaica gone wrong. Singer Joe Strummer and guitarist Mick Jones were sent to Jamaica for two weeks in December 1977 to write songs for their upcoming second album, which would become Give 'Em Enough Rope. The experience wasn't as positive as they'd have liked: "We must've looked like a strange pair to the locals... I'm surprised we weren't filleted and served on a plate of chips" noted Jones. "We went down to the docks and I think we only survived because they mistook us for sailors." This feeling of alienation and struggling to stay alive in a very hostile environment far from home is evident in the lyrics, most obviously in the chorus ("I went to the place where every white face is an invitation to robbery"). The song also includes a reference to the Sheraton hotel in Kingston and the pair's regular trips to the cinema to watch the movie The Harder They Come ("Whoa, the harder they come, n' the home of ol' bluebeat"). Add in to this mix bassist Paul Simonon, who as the guy in the band most into reggae music, was furious that he wasn't invited out to Jamaica with the others. Even in the Westway to the World documentary, made over 20 years after the event, he still seems angry, stating: "yeah, that pissed me off." It was during the sessions to record "Safe European Home" that drummer Topper Headon gained the nickname "The Human Drum Machine." "(Producer) Sandy Pearlman called me The Human Drum Machine because I didn't make any mistakes on the album. It was a buzz to get a producer who got such a great drum sound" said Headon. Singer Joe Strummer's improvised scat lines at the end of this track would later provide the title to a song on the follow-up album London Calling - the song being "Rudie Can't Fail". An explosively punchy old-fashioned Punk Rock song, "Safe European Home" was always a live favorite for the band, even when they clearly weren't just sitting at home in Europe hating the world later in their careers. In 1978 it was a punchy opening song, and then with the writing of "London Calling" it was shifted down the setlist but remained an ever-present. Strummer would also often play the song with his solo band the Mescaleros. Huginn and Muninn In Norse mythology, Huginn (Old Norse: "thought") and Muninn (Old Norse "memory" or "mind") are a pair of ravens that fly all over the world, Midgard, and bring information to the god Odin. Huginn and Muninn are attested in the Poetic Edda. In the Poetic Edda, a disguised Odin expresses that he fears that they may not return from their daily flights. The Prose Edda explains that Odin is referred to as Hrafnaguð ("raven-god") due to his association with Huginn and Muninn. In the Prose Edda and the Third Grammatical Treatise, the two ravens are described as perching on Odin's shoulders. Heimskringla details that Odin gave Huginn and Muninn the ability to speak. O'er Mithgarth Hugin and Munin both Each day set forth to fly; For Hugin I fear lest he come not home, But for Munin my care is more. Gylfaginning (chapter 38), the enthroned figure of High tells Gangleri (king Gylfi in disguise) that two ravens named Huginn and Muninn sit on Odin's shoulders. The ravens tell Odin everything they see and hear. Odin sends Huginn and Muninn out at dawn, and the birds fly all over Mithgarth before returning at dinner-time. As a result, Odin is kept informed of many events. It is from this association that Odin is referred to as "raven-god". The above-mentioned stanza from Grímnismál is then quoted. In the Heimskringla book Ynglinga saga, a euhemerized account of the life of Odin is provided. Chapter 7 describes that Odin had two ravens, and upon these ravens he bestowed the gift of speech. These ravens flew all over the land and brought him information, causing Odin to become "very wise in his lore." In the Third Grammatical Treatise an anonymous verse is recorded that mentions the ravens flying from Odin's shoulders; Huginn seeking hanged men, and Muninn slain bodies. The verse reads: Two ravens flew from Hnikar’s [Óðinn’s] shoulders; Huginn to the hanged and Muninn to the slain.

The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Major Albert J. Myer, and had an important role in the American Civil War. Over its history, it had the initial responsibility for portfolios and new technologies that were eventually transferred to other U.S. government entities. Such responsibilities included military intelligence, weather forecasting, and aviation. MISSION Support for the command and control of combined arms forces. Signal support includes network operations (information assurance, information dissemination management, and network management) and management of the electromagnetic spectrum. Signal support encompasses all aspects of designing, installing, data communications networks that employ single and multi-channel satellite, tropospheric scatter, terrestrial microwave, switching, messaging, video-teleconferencing, visual information, and other related systems. They integrate tactical, strategic and sustaining base communications, information processing and management systems into a seamless global information network that supports knowledge dominance for Army, joint and coalition operations. Electronics has always relied on critical materials that have been difficult to acquire. Today we think of the gold, cobalt, neodymium, terbium, or dysprosium that are required to make electric vehicles, but during World War II raw quartz crystals were required to manufacture the oscillators used in the radio transmitters that were critical to the war effort. This was before the technology to grow quartz crystals was perfected, and the best natural quartz was mined in Brazil. Film about the manufacture of radio crystals during World War II. Includes footage of quartz crystals and women workers at Reeves Sound Laboratories cutting and testing radio crystals in amazing detail every step in making a crystal oscillator, from inspecting the incoming raw crystals to shipping the finished crystal in its holder. You'll be ready to set up your own quartz crystal factory after watching this film. Filmed at the Reeves Sound Laboratory, it shows the degree of labor intensive effort that was required to produce an accurate frequency reference, and highlights the contributions of women in wartime manufacturing. The woman with the long nails and way too much jewlery to be using rotating equipment tuning the crystal... yea baby... Lots of exposure to x-rays with no apparent protection. The irony of a "Sound Lab" having such horrible audio. The slight warble sound is artafacts remaining from noise reduction. This thing was worse than a box of Rice Crispies and terrible feedback. Also I stretched the image to fit moden resolution minimum HD requirements. In 1948 (5 years later) researchers at Fort Monmouth grew the first synthetically produced large quartz crystals... making everything here relatively obsolete. The crystals were able to be used in the manufacture of electronic components, and made the United States largely independent of foreign imports for this critical mineral. In 1949 the first auto-assembly of printed circuits was invented. A technique for assembling electronic parts on a printed circuit board, developed by Fort Monmouth engineers, pioneered the development and fabrication of miniature circuits for both military and civilian use. Although they did not invent the transistor, Fort Monmouth scientists were among the first to recognize its importance, particularly in military applications, and did pioneer significant improvements in its composition and production. During the Korean War and Vietnam War the Signal Corps operated officer candidate schools initially at Fort Monmouth in 1950–1953, graduating 1,234 officers, and at Fort Gordon in 1965–1968, which produced 2,213 signal officers. (The World War II Signal OCS program at Fort Monmouth, from 1941–1946 graduated 21,033 Signal Corps officers.) Narration by one of the research scientists of the U.S. Army Signal Corps Produced by André de LaVarre Produced at Reeves Sound Laboratories

Bankrobber Album: Black Market Clash (1980) Lost In The Supermarket Album: London Calling (1979) by The Clash Bankrobber describes a boy whose father robs banks, but refuses to harm anybody in the process; he simply loves to live life as a criminal. Unfortunately many people took these lyrics literally, prompting sniffy critics to point out that Joe Strummer's dad was a foreign office diplomat and not actually a bankrobber. Joe Strummer's dad was a foreign office diplomat. Joe Strummer's dad was a foreign office diplomat. The lyrics to Bankrobber aren't meant literally - instead they are a continuation of the themes of dead-end jobs and escaping oppression by 'the man' that run through so many Clash songs, starting on the first album with "Career Opportunities." What started out sometime in 1979 as a jaunty ska tune demoed as "The Bank Robber's Song" became what was supposed to be: the first in a long line of singles released through 1980. Except record label CBs hated it, calling it "all of David Bowie's records played backwards." Harsh criticism for one of the band's best charting singles, and another move away from the traditional sound of the band after the already fairly radical-sounding "London Calling." A reggae version of Bankrobber by Audioweb went to #19 on the UK charts in 1997. The song has also been covered by The Pistoleers (in a rockabilly style) and by The Soul Merchants. Bankrobber was recorded in Pluto Studios in Manchester in early February 1980. It was the first time the band would work with Mikey Dread, a man they would collaborate with a lot over the next year (he would produce their 1980 triple-album Sandinista!). Another longtime Clash collaborator, Mickey Gallagher, says that "Mikey got a great vibe going in the studio - he made rhythms by shaking a matchbox, or using a squeaky toy." The video, featuring two masked robbers (roadies Johnny Green and Barry Glare) holding up a bank in Lewisham, South London, was rejected by the popular UK TV show Top of the Pops. So instead the resident dance troupe of the time, Legs and Co, had to dance to it when the song appeared on the show in August 1980. "'Bankrobber is an interesting one," Clash guitarist Mick Jones told Daniel Rachel, author of The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters. "I think my dad was a bankrobber's assistant. There was talk of him driving getaway cars. He was a cab driver but he drove for other people. Joe wrote the words. The songs are like folk songs. They've become like traditional songs. A lot of it was based on truth. We made it so everybody could relate to it. It wasn't exactly the truth, for instance in 'Lost in the Supermarket' I didn't have a hedge in the suburb. I lived in a council flat. A lot of the time it got mythologized." Even in 1979, musicians were bemoaning the increased commercialization and information overload that was pervading society. That's apparent on Lost In The Supermarket. Joe Strummer of The Clash wrote the lyrics and Mick Jones sang lead. In the DVD Making of 'London Calling': The Last Testament, which came with the 25th anniversary edition of the album, Strummer said he wrote the lyrics to Lost In The Supermarket imagining Jones' life growing up in a basement with his mother and grandmother. Interestingly, it also includes personal references to his own life growing up in a heavily suburban middle-class family ("We had a hedge back home in the suburbs, over which I never could see"). The Afghan Wings covered Lost In The Supermarket for the Burning London tribute compilation in 1999; this version includes singer Greg Dulli ad-libbing lyrics from other songs over the outro, including another Clash song "Train in Vain (Stand By Me)" and Ben E. King's "Stand By Me". Ben Folds also recorded a cover for the movie Over The Hedge. "Lost In The Supermarket" was first conceived and written in an actual supermarket under the block of flats Joe Strummer was living in at the time with his girlfriend Gaby Salter. While it was too small for Strummer to literally get "lost in the supermarket," he did note in a 1999 interview that the song "occurred to me as I stumbled around dazed by the color and the lights." This would certainly explain the heavy themes of commercialism in the lyrics ("I'm all tuned in, I see all the programs, I save coupons from packets of tea"). Discussing the recording of the song, drummer Topper Headon mentioned in a 1991 interview that the night before, he saw the Blues guitarist Taj Mahal play. "His drummer played a lot of snare beats on the floor tom," said Headon. "When I went in the next day I thought that sounded good last night, I'll use it on this song." Although the multi-layered production on the record (including layered funk basslines from Paul Simon) made the studio track a lush piece, it made Lost In The Supermarket difficult to play live, and only a handful of performances in exist from the few times they played it in 1983.

Money For Nothing Album: Brothers In Arms (1985) by Dire Straits Mark Knopfler wrote Money For Nothing after overhearing delivery men in a New York department store complain about their jobs while watching MTV. He wrote the song in the store sitting at a kitchen display they had set up. Many of the lyrics were things they actually said. Sting sings on this and helped write it (he and Knopfler are the credited writers). That's him at the beginning singing "I want my MTV." Sting did not want a songwriting credit, but his record company did because they would have earned royalties from it. They claimed it sounded very similar to a song Sting wrote for The Police: "Don't Stand So Close To Me." Dire Straits recorded this in Montserrat. Sting was on vacation there and came by to help out. The innovative video was one of the first to feature computer generated animation, which was done using an early program called Paintbox. The characters were supposed to have more detail, like buttons on their shirts, but they used up the budget and had to leave it as is. It won Best Video at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards. The video of Money For Nothing was directed by Steve Barron, who also directed the famous a-ha video for "Take On Me" and Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science." In the book I Want My MTV, various people who worked at the network explain that Dire Straits' manager asked the network what they could do to get on the network and break through in America. Their answer was: write a hit song and let one of the top directors make a video. Mark Knopfler took the directive to write an "MTVable song" quite literally, using the network's tagline in the lyrics. The song ended up sounding like an indictment of MTV, but Les Garland, who ran the network, made it clear that they loved the song and were flattered by it - hearing "I Want My MTV" on the radio was fantastic publicity even if there were some unfavorable implications in the lyrics. Steve Barron was dispatched to do the video, and charged with the task of convincing Mark Knopfler, who hated videos, to do one that was groundbreaking. Barron says that Knopfler wasn't into the idea, but his girlfriend - an American - was at the pitch and loved the idea. Knopfler agreed (in part because he didn't have to appear in it), and Barron hired a UK production company called Rushes to work on it. Said Barron: "The song is damning to MTV in a way. That was an ironic video. The characters we created were made of televisions, and they were slagging off television. Videos were getting a bit boring, they needed some waking up. And MTV went nuts for it. It was like a big advertisement for them." The line "I want my MTV" was the basis of the cable network's promotional campaign. They played clips of musicians saying, and often times, screaming the line between videos. This was the first video played on MTV Europe. The network went on the air August 1, 1987, six years after MTV in the US. The album version runs 8:26 with an extended outro. The single was cut down to 4:38. In the US, this stayed at #1 for three weeks. It also won a Grammy in 1986 for best Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. Mark Knopfler played a Les Paul Junior plugged into a Laney amp on this track. Producer Neil Dorfsman recalled in Sound On Sound magazine May 2006: "We were going for a ZZ Top sound, but what we ended up getting was kind of an accident." "Weird Al" Yankovic parodied this for his movie UHF. The parody is called "Beverly Hillbillies (Money For Nothing)." Strait's frontman, Mark Knopfler, OK'd the parody under one condition: Knopfler would play guitar on the song. The song stirred up some controversy with the line, "See the little fa--ot with the earring and the makeup," as well as two other mentions of the word "fa--ot." At one point it was banned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Mark Knopfler has pointed out that the song was written from the viewpoint of a stupid character who thinks musicians make their "money for nothing," and this guy's stupidity is what leads him to make ignorant statements. Speaking in late 1985 to Rolling Stone, the Dire Straits songwriter expressed his feelings about people who react angrily to the song. He said: "Apart from the fact that there are stupid gay people as well as stupid other people, it suggests that maybe you have to be direct. I'm in two minds as to whether it's a good idea to take on characters and write songs that aren't in the first person." In 2005, the duo Deep Dish sampled this on their song "Flashing For Money," which was based on their song "Flashdance" (not the Irene Cara song). It was the first time Dire Straits allowed one of their songs to be sampled. "Flashing For Money" was released on the B-side of Deep Dish's single "Say Hello." Reel Big Fish released an album in 2007 called Monkeys For Nothin' And The Chimps For Free. The title is a takeoff on this song. Mark Knopfler was once a reporter working on the Yorkshire Evening Post. He told Uncut magazine that his journalistic experience fed into this song. "I was reporting, verbatim, what a particular guy thought about music," he said. "I transcribed his words there and then. He was a meathead. To him being a rock star was easy, hence 'that ain't working.'" Keyboardist Alan Clark told Mojo magazine the song was transformed out of the ordinary because of Mark Knopfler's perfectionist nature. "In the beginning," he said, "'Money For Nothing' sounded more like a Stones track and it didn't have the iconic guitar riff. Mark developed that messing around to a click track on his own on Montserrat." (I want my, I want my MTV) (I want my, I want my MTV) (I want my, I want my MTV) (I want my, I want my MTV) Huh, now look at them yo-yos, that's the way you do it You play that guitar on the MTV That ain't workin', that's the way you do it Money for nothin' and your chicks for free Now that ain't workin', that's the way you do it Lemme tell ya, them guys ain't dumb Maybe get a blister on your little finger Maybe get a blister on your thumb We got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliveries We got to move these refrigerators, we got to move these color TVs, ow See the little faggot with the earring and the make up Yeah, buddy, that's his own hair That little faggot got his own jet airplane That little faggot, he's a millionaire We got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliveries We got to move these refrigerators, we got to move these color TVs Huh We got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliveries We got to move these refrigerators, we got to move these color TVs Looky here, look out I shoulda learned to play the guitar I shoulda learned to play them drums Look at that mama, she got it stickin' in the camera man We could have some And he's up there, what's that? Hawaiian noises? He's bangin' on the bongos like a chimpanzee Oh, that ain't workin', that's the way you do it Get your money for nothin', get your chicks for free We got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliveries We got to move these refrigerators, we got to move these color TVs Ow, ow ow ow Listen here Now that ain't workin' that's the way you do it You play the guitar on the MTV That ain't workin', that's the way you do it Money for nothin' and your chicks for free Money for nothin', chicks for free Get your money for nothin' and your chicks for free Ooh, that money for nothin', chicks for free Get your money for nothin', chicks for free Money for nothin' (all that money for nothing), chicks for free Get your money for nothin', get your chicks for free (ow) Get your money for nothin' and the chicks for free Get your money for nothin' and the chicks for free (what's that?) Look at that, look at that Get your money for nothin' (I want my, I want my) And the chicks for free (I want my MTV) Money for nothin', chicks for free (I want my, I want my, I want my MTV) Get your money for nothin' (I want my, I want my) And the chicks for free (I want my MTV) Get your money for nothin' (I want my, I want my) And the chicks for free (I want my MTV) Easy, easy money for nothin' (I want my, I want my) Easy, easy chicks for free (I want my MTV) Easy, easy money for nothin' (I want my, I want my) Chicks for free (I want my MTV) That ain't workin' Money for nothing, chicks for free Money for nothing, chicks for free

American Jesus Album: Recipe for Hate (1993) I Love My Computer Album: The New America (2000) by Bad Religion In accordance with their band name, Bad Religion often takes on what they feel is misguided religious sentiment in their songs, and "American Jesus" flogs the concept of a nation believing it more blessed by God than other countries. Lead singer Greg Graffin and guitarist Brett Gurewitz wrote the song in response to US President George H. W. Bush's comment that the US would win the Gulf War (the first one) because God is on their side. It's pretty much a satirical view on the general American thought that the United States is the most powerful nation in the world because it is "One nation under God." Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam sang backup on American Jesus. Gore Verbinski, who also did the Bad Religion clips for "Atomic Garden," "Stranger Than Fiction" and "21st Century (Digital Boy)," directed the American Jesus video, which shows the band performing while various people walk around with giant crosses (which were made of styrofoam). The New America is the eleventh studio album by Bad Religion. It was released in 2000 and is their last album on Atlantic Records. The New America is also Bad Religion's last album with Bobby Schayer on drums. Though not yet credited as a member of the band, then-former and now-current guitarist Brett Gurewitz co-wrote and played guitar on the song "Believe It". The album was re-released by Epitaph Records on September 15, 2008. Like its predecessor, none of the album's songs would develop into live staples; only the title track is performed live occasionally. "I Love My Computer" is track 9. The New America was recorded from October to December 1999 at Victor's Barn, Kauai, Hawaii and produced by Todd Rundgren. Rundgren had been one of the musicians Greg Graffin looked up to while growing up. However, working with Rundgren proved to be a disappointment to the band and especially Graffin, because they did not get along well with each other. Graffin however would later write in his book, Anarchy Evolution, that although Rundgren was difficult to work with, they remain friends to this day. Graffin reflected on the recording of The New America with Rundgren in an even more positive light in his 2023 memoir Punk Rock Paradox, calling it a "great experience." The New America was released on May 9, 2000 and is the last Bad Religion album distributed via Atlantic Records to date. The release of The New America marked the band's fulfillment of their four-album contract with Atlantic Records, allowing the band to reconvene with former band-mate, Brett Gurewitz, for their next album, 2002's The Process of Belief, released on Epitaph Records. The album was initially titled The Last Word, before being changed to The New America as a large number of people thought the band was breaking up. The album marks a departure for the band, as some of the songs are personal, rather than political in nature, and more optimism is employed. Topics range from singer Greg Graffin's recent divorce to his past growing up as a punk kid in the early '80s. Apart from Brett Gurewtiz's guest contribution, it is the only Bad Religion album solely written by Graffin. Bad Religion was formed in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1980 by high school students Greg Graffin (vocals) and Brett Gurewitz (guitar). The band considers their first show to be a gig in 1980 when they opened for Social Distortion in an empty warehouse. Bad Religion chose their band name because it's provocative and fit their punk rock ethos. "The motivation for the name was pretty juvenile," Greg Graffin explained in the book Rock Names. "However, it was a time when there was a lot of televangelism, if you remember. So it was sort of timely that we would poke fun at some aspect of American culture. And it turns out that the name, although it started out on a juvenile foundation, became actually a pretty good name over the years because we use religion as a metaphor for organized, dogmatic thought - really the opposite of what punk rock is all about, which stresses independence and individuality more than anything else." Bad Religion Greg Graffin – lead vocals, backing vocals Greg Hetson – guitar Brian Baker – guitar, backing vocals Jay Bentley – bass guitar, backing vocals Bobby Schayer – drums

Slave Album: Tattoo You (1981) by The Rolling Stones This rocker is a musical showcase for the band, with a blues feel and a saxophone solo by the jazz great Sonny Rollins. Lyrically, there's not much to it, with Mick Jagger repeating "do it" and "don't wanna be your slave" over and over. There is a short spoken part where he asks the lady to steal something for him at the supermarket, but that's as far as the story develops. Originally recorded at the Black And Blue sessions in 1974, this song went on for a while and was called "The Black And Blue Jam" before being reworked for the 1981 album Tattoo You. It runs 4:55 on most versions of the vinyl album, but on CD and in digital forms of the album, a longer version running 6:34 was used. Pete (Townsend pre-mandela effect) Townshend from The Who sang backup. Some connections between Townshend and The Stones: Townshend (Townsend pre-mandela effect) claims he stole his legendary windmill arm swing from Keith Richards. The Who played at The Stones Rock And Roll Circus concert event in 1968. The film wasn't released until 1996. In 1976, Townshend (Townsend pre-mandela effect) contributed to Ron Wood and Ronnie Lane's Mahoney's Last Stand project. In 1982, following the end of the Stones' European tour, Mick Jagger accompanied The Who for parts of their farewell tour. The following year, on Mick's 40th birthday, Townshend (Townsend pre-mandela effect) wrote an unflattering letter in the London Times commenting on the significance of this event. Townshend (Townsend pre-mandela effect) played on Mick Jaggers first solo album in 1984. In February 1986, Townshend (Townsend pre-mandela effect) was one of those present when the Stones gave their London club performance in honor of Ian Stewart, joining the band onstage for some Blues numbers. In January 1989, he inducted The Stones into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2001, he played on the songs "Gun" and "Joy" for Jagger's Goddess In The Doorway album. The original version recorded in 1974 featured Billy Preston on organ, Jeff Beck on guitar, and Nicky Hopkins on piano. Their parts were erased when it was reworked. The Stones didn't have a problem working the word "slave" into their songs. Note the opening lines of "Brown Sugar": Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields Sold in the market down in New Orleans Sonny Rollins played sax on three Tattoo You tracks: This song, "Waiting On A Friend," and "Neighbours." Uncut magazine asked the jazz great how he ended up playing with The Rolling Stones on their album. "My wife, Lucille, convinced me to get involved," he said. "I was a little bit dismissive when they asked me, but she said, 'Man, it's the Stones!' I was always more of a Beatles man - that Paul McCartney is a great songwriter. But I used to look down on music that I thought wasn't on the same level as jazz. Anyway, the Stones got me into a studio and played me a few songs they'd recorded and asked me to play over the top. Kinda riffing, really. They sent me a copy of the record and a lovely letter, but I never listen to my old recordings. It was only when I was in some grocery store in Upstate New York, quite a long time later, where I heard one of those tracks again, and I thought, hey, that's me! Slave was it called? Yeah, they could get funky, those guys!" Called "...a standard Stones blues jam" in the album review by Rolling Stone magazine, "Slave" was the result of the Stones' experiments with funk and dance music during the Black and Blue recording sessions of 1974/75. The lyrics are sparse outside of a brief spoken verse by Jagger and the refrain of "Don't want to be your slave". Keith Richards provide the electric guitar part for the song, with Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman supporting on drums and bass, respectively. The song was never performed by the Stones on stage - although rehearsed in 2002 - and appears on no compilation album. The 1994 Virgin Records and 2009 Polydor CD reissues of Tattoo You contain an additional 90 seconds of "Slave". Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it Don't want to be your slave Don't want to be your slave Don't want to be your slave Don't want to be your slave Don't want to be your slave Don't want to be your slave Twenty-four hours a day Hey, why don't you go down to the supermarket, get something to eat Steal something of the shelves Pass by the liquor store, be back about quarter to twelve Don't want to be your slave Don't want to be your slave Don't want to be your slave (go, baby) Don't want to be your slave (yeah) Don't want to be your slave (go, baby) Don't want to be your slave (yeah, baby) (Go, yeah, go, baby, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah) Don't want to be your slave Don't want to be your slave Don't want to be your slave Don't want to be your slave Don't want to be your slave Don't want to be your slave Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it

Come Sail Away Album: The Grand Illusion (1977) by Styx Written and sung by Styx keyboard player Dennis DeYoung, Come Sail Away is about following your dreams by embarking on a journey into the unknown. In the second verse, he misses out on the pot of gold, but continues to carry on. The song is a personal one for DeYoung, who wrote it about struggling to break through to the next level with Styx. Formed in the early '70s, they grew a solid fanbase but were always the support act (for Bob Seger, Foghat, Rush, Kiss, Aerosmith, etc.), never the headliner. Released as the first single from The Grand Illusion, "Come Sail Away" helped get them to this next level, as the Styx became one of the top arena rock acts of the next few years. At the end of this song, the journeyman is visited by aliens, who at first he thinks are angels. "Come sail away with me" they tell him, before riding off in their spaceship. This was a very intergalactic time, as the album was released a little over a month after Star Wars hit theaters. In a 2020 interview with Dennis DeYoung, he talked about the meaning behind this song. "'Come Sail Away' is a song about yearning to be in a better place," he said. "How do you get there? You go on a boat, on a ship, angels waving their wings as you ascend to heaven with them. Is there something going on? A starship to the stars? Are they aliens? Is it Captain Kirk? You tell me." Running 6:05 (in the album version), this song plays like a ballad for the first 2:20, then kicks in with the big guitars and chorus. It's quite a transition, and one that quickly brought couples apart on the dance floor. In the first episode of the first (and sadly, only) season of the 1999 TV series Freaks and Geeks, this song is playing when a geeky freshman finally gets to dance with his dream girl, but as soon as they hit the dance floor, the song goes from ballad to rocker, so they end up dancing apart. Dennis DeYoung loves this scene. "I watched it cold and had tears in my eyes because of what it captured," he told Songfacts. "All we want as human beings is approval, a pat on the head, to have somebody tell us we're OK and 'we love you.' At that moment, it showed the vulnerability of all of us." This being the '70s, radio stations played a big role in promoting songs, and program directors could often be swayed with gifts of money and drugs. Payola, was of course, illegal, but that didn't stop Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw and the band's promo man Jim Cahill from traveling to many of the stations with bags of cocaine in an effort to get more airplay for this song. The tactic worked; Cahill explained on the Styx Behind The Music that program directors were like penguins, since they'd follow you around if you had "snow." The radio edit runs just 3:07 and removes the entire second verse, pulling the uptempo transition up to 1:10. Styx purists see this as butchery. The last part of this song where the angels/aliens come to visit can be seen as an allusion to the Bible verse of Ezekiel chapter 1:1-28 where a large wheel/cloud (depending on text) appears to Ezekiel and gives him instructions from God. The passage concludes: This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord The lyric has a similar theme: A gathering of angels appeared above my head They sang to me this song of hope And this is what they said (later in song)... I thought that they were angels But to my surprise They climbed aboard their starship And headed for the skies. Some people believe the figure Ezekiel saw was not a messenger sent from God but an alien space craft or a time machine from the future. The band had to push for this to be the lead single from the album, as their management wanted "Superstars" released first. This regained popularity in 1999 when it was used in the raunchy, animated cartoon show South Park. One of the characters, Cartman, was compelled to sing it every so often. Cartman's version was released on a soundtrack album and the song was introduced to a new generation. Styx performed this during the pre-game show of Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa. Swashbucklers sailed into the stadium pirate ship while the band performed. Captain Harlock (キャプテン・ハーロック, Kyaputen Hārokku, also known as "Captain Herlock" in the English release of Endless Odyssey and some Japanese materials) is a fictional character and protagonist of the Space Pirate Captain Harlock manga series created by Leiji Matsumoto. Harlock is the archetypical Romantic hero, a space pirate with an individualist philosophy of life. He is as noble as he is taciturn, rebellious, stoically fighting against totalitarian regimes, whether they be Earth-born or alien. In his own words, he "fight[s] for no one's sake... only for something deep in [his] heart." He does not fear death, and is sometimes seen wearing clothing with the number 42 on it. In Japanese culture, the number 42 is associated with death (the numbers, pronounced separately as "four two," sound like the word "shini"—meaning "dying/death"). The character was created by Leiji Matsumoto in 1977 and popularized in the 1978 television series Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Since then, the character has appeared in numerous animated television series and films, the latest of which is 2013's Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Though there are slight variations in each telling of Harlock's story, the essentials remain the same. Matsumoto presents a future (2977 AD) in which the Earth has achieved a vast starfaring civilization, but is slowly and steadily succumbing to ennui or despair, often due to defeat and subjugation by a foreign invader. Rising against the general apathy, Harlock denies defeat and leads an outlaw crew aboard his starship Arcadia to undertake daring raids against Earth's oppressors. Even though they have defeated Earth and devastated its peoples, the invaders are often presented in a sympathetic light, being shown as having some justification for their actions.

I Know A Little Album: Street Survivors (1977) by Lynyrd Skynyrd You won't find diatribes on the complexities of interpersonal relationships in the Skynyrd catalog, but you will find simple explanations. I Know A Little is a great example. Why to people get the blues? From digging what they can't use. And if you want to hold on to a man, a good way to do it is through commitment. You only need to know a little about love - the rest you can guess. I Know A Little is a great example of Skynyrd guitarist Steve Gaines' contributions to the band. He wrote the song himself, and also wrote or co-wrote three other songs on the album. Gaines replaced Ed King as the band's guitarist in 1976, but died in the 1977 plane crash that also claimed the lives of lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and Gaines' sister Cassie, who was a backup singer for the group. This song provides a glimpse of his clever songwriting, as Van Zant sings about a guy who has a strong feeling that his girl is cheating on him. Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington told Guitar School magazine, July 1993, that he'd never heard anybody, including the current guitarists in the band, play the picking on this song quite right - the way Steve Gaines did. This is one of many Skynyrd songs that was never released as a single but endured as a classic track in their catalog. It earned lots of airplay on Classic Rock radio and became one of their most popular live songs, performed at most of their shows when they re-organized after the plane crash. Yes sir Well the bigger the city, well the brighter the lights The bigger the dog, well the harder the bite I don't know where you been last night But I think mama, you ain't doin' right Say I know a little I know a little about it I know a little I know a little 'bout it I know a little 'bout love And baby I can guess the rest Well now I don't read that daily news 'Cause it ain't hard to figure Where people get the blues They can't dig what they can't use If they stick to themselves They'd be much less abused Say I know a little Lord I do know a little about it I know a little I know a little 'bout it I know a little 'bout love Baby I can guess the rest Play me a little, oh yeah Yeah Well if you want me to be your only man Said listen up mama, teach you all I can Do right baby, by your man Don't worry mama, teach you all I can Say I know a little Lord I do know a little about it I know a little I know a little 'bout it I know a little 'bout love Baby I can guess the rest Well I know a little 'bout love Baby I want your best

Is It My Body Album: Love It to Death (1971) Clones Album: Flush The Fashion (1980) Billion Dollar Babies Album: Billion Dollar Babies (1973) by Alice Cooper In 1971, Alice Cooper released the breakthrough album, Love It To Death. It has become one a quintessential rock and roll album. “Is It My Body,” the fifth track on Love It To Death, asks a critical question – “have you got the time to find out who I really am?” It may seem simple and to the point, but the question begs a deeper, more complex answer. Alice inquires what it is about him that has captured the affection of his admirer. And, as the song continues, it’s evident that the real question pertains more to an actual, deeper, more genuine connection than just some random fling, hookup, or acquaintance. What is it that attracts us to the opposite sex? Is it purely physical, or is it more than that? “Is it (their) body, someone (they) might be; somethin’ inside (them)?” What makes us want to be connected to that other person? One of the fascinating things about the Alice Cooper phenomenon is the cerebral nature of the music and lyrics. Buried underneath the lines and chords, a story is being told. Some are to the point, and some are a little more hidden. “Is It My Body” is to the point, “what is it about me that makes you want to love me?” The question is straightforward and demands an answer. The answers to such a question are different for each listener. "Clones" is an attack on forced conformity - it was very popular with high school students. The lyrics paint a future where all traces of the human race have been replaced by dehumanized clones: "We've destroyed the government, we're destroying time. No more problems on the way." Clones was written by the late guitarist/vocalist/songwriter David Carron, who had been a member of Arlo Guthrie's touring band, Shenandoah, in the 1970s. He was also a member of the short-lived band Gulliver after that. Clones song peaked at #40 on the US Hot 100. It was Cooper's first single to reach the Top 40 in two years. The track also saw some chart action in other parts of the world. It climbed to #36 on the singles chart in Australia and reached #58 in Germany. This was the first single from Cooper's album Flush the Fashion. Due to the sluggish sales of his previous album, From the Inside, Cooper decided to take his sound in a new direction. With that goal in mind, he tapped Roy Thomas Baker to produce album. Baker was best known for his production work with Queen (he co-produced A Night at the Opera with the band) and The Cars. Under his production, the tracks on Flush the Fashion have a synth-laced New Wave sound, which was a significant departure from the rougher-edged hard rock and glam metal of Cooper's previous records. This sonic makeover proved successful in boosting Cooper's record sales; the album was his most successful LP in three years, climbing to #44 in America and #56 in the UK. The Smashing Pumpkins covered Clones. Their version appears on the The Aeroplane Flies High collection. Billion Dollar Babies is about the dangers of overindulgence. It came just as Cooper was getting famous and exposed to rock star excess, and accordingly it helped make him rich and famous. Alice used the cash to buy a house in Los Angeles and finance more elaborate stage shows and videos. He lived the rock star lifestyle for a while, but in later years settled into a very sensible upper class lifestyle, living in Arizona, playing lots of golf, and making shrewd business decisions. He never became a billionaire, but he did very well for himself. Cooper and his band recorded Billion Dollar Babies at a mansion they rented out to record the album in Greenwich, Connecticut, which is a very wealthy suburb of New York City. Billion Dollar Babies is credited as written by Cooper, his guitarist Michael Bruce, and a session guitarist they worked with named Reggie Vinson. The Billion Dollar Babies album was re-released with new packaging as a DVD in 2000. It contains all the songs plus interviews and bonus tracks. As part of his stage show, Cooper would mutilate dolls when he performed Billion Dollar Babies. The tour for the album introduced the props Cooper became famous for, including the guillotine, the snake, and hundreds of cans of beer. Billion Dollar Babies took on new meaning when Cooper started playing casinos in the '90s. 1973 was the last year that Alice Cooper was recognized as a group, rather than just the lead singer. Since the singer, Vincent Furnier, drew most of the attention, many fans did not know the difference between him and the Alice Cooper Band. Muscle of Love was the last album as the group. As lead singer Vincent Furnier became the known as Alice Cooper and sucked up all the notoriety the band received, the guitarist, bass player, and drummer from The Alice Cooper Band left and formed a group called The Billion Dollar Babies. They released an album called Battle Axe in 1977. The background vocals for Billion Dollar Babies was sung by Donovan of "Mellow Yellow" fame. Donovan was recording at Willesden's Morgan Studios around the same time as Alice, and got roped into the session. In a 2016 interview with Donovan, he told the story: "Here was this guy that I just met. He played me the song, and said, 'Would you like to put a vocal on?' I said, 'OK. Give me the chorus.' I listened to the chorus, and his guitar player was playing like Keith Richards - something very powerful that he'd learned from Keith or from Brian Jones in the Stones. And when I listened to the chorus, I said, 'OK. I'll give it a go.' But I learned something: I had to sing in falsetto. Power bands in Britain had already learned that to have a singer in a power rock outfit, you need a singer who can go into falsetto. That's why you've got Robert Plant in Zeppelin, Jon Anderson with Yes. They have to raise their voices into the high range. Chris Squire of Yes, who was a friend at the time, I said, 'Why is it?' And he said, 'Well, it's very easy. If you want your voice to be heard, you've got to climb above the guitars in the mid-range, or else you won't even hear the vocal.' And it's true. So, I immediately said, 'Hey Alice, what do you think of [singing falsetto] Biiiillion Dollar Babies? So I did the falsetto, Alice loved it, and then I forgot about it, and never even thought about it, until someone told me later, it went to #1. And I was half the vocal! So Alice and I, when we meet, we have a chuckle and a laugh about it. It was a great pleasure. And the best thing about it was nobody knew it was me for so long!" Notwithstanding the sometimes grotesque subject matter, Cooper told Gibson.com that one of his main inspirations for the album was Chuck Berry. "[Berry] was my favorite lyricist," said Cooper. "When I first heard something like 'Nadine,' or 'Maybelline,' I understood those songs told a story. As the lyrics went along, you really got a picture of what was going on. He took the girl out; he couldn't get his seat belt off - things like that. I always wanted to write three-minute stories that were funny, or maybe not just funny, but also dramatic. The idea was to compact everything into three minutes, which is really hard to do."

Cereal Killer Album: Cereal Killer Soundtrack (1993) Anarchy In Bedrock Album: Triple Live Möther Gööse at Budokan (1989) by Green Jello/Jelly Cereal Killer was originally released on video in 1992, as were all of the songs on this album. The video for this song showed several mascots of various cereals being viciously murdered. The cereal companies got so upset that when the songs were released in a music-only format, the band had to put out an edited version. Their name was originally Green Jello, named as such because of their dislike for that particular flavor and because they thought it accurately described their musical sound. They had to change it to Green Jelly after a demand by General Foods, owner of the Jello trademark and many of the Cereal Products mentioned in "Cereal Killers". Triple Live Möther Gööse at Budokan was recorded and mixed at s.p.l studio van nuys. This record credits the band as Green Jellö on the cover, not Jellÿ. Also available on green with white splatter and black vinyl. The album was recorded in a garage in about the same amount of time it takes to play it. A rare video was also released for this album with music videos for each song. It featured a much more defined sound, as well as far better production and songwriting. Thanks to hard rock band Gwar, Green Jelly began using elaborate homemade props and costumes in their live shows. They once appeared on The Gong Show, claiming to be the world's worst band. After releasing an "album" on video, with music videos accompanying each of the songs, they billed themselves as the world's first "video-only" rock band. Manspeaker goes by the names Marshall "Duh" Staxx and Moronic Dicktator. Former vocalist Gary Helsinger is now the Director A&R, West Coast, for Universal. He was also Tour Manager for A Perfect Circle. The band has had anywhere from 75-115 members since its inception. They hail from Kenmore, New Jersey. Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan and Tool drummer Danny Carey were both members of Green Jelly. That's where they met, before they broke off to form Tool. "Cereal Killer" Green Jelly Follow your nose It always knows The flavor of death Where ever it goes Terror in the supermarket, shoppers are in horror Shredded boxes in the aisles, corpses on the floor Those who ran, this joy is mine Now they're gonna to pay Sugar-coated slaughter Now the order of the day! Toucan, Son of Sam! Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids Follow your nose It always knows The flavor of death Where ever it goes Orphaned at the age of five Parental guidance missed Rice Krispies wouldn't talk to him And he got really pissed The remittal chemicals Have driven him insane Now we know the calling Like it's ringing 'round his brain Toucan, Son of Sam! Snap! Crackle! Pop! Toucan Son of Sam! Part of your nutritious breakfast! ~ Anarchy in Bedrock... twitch, twitch (one, two, three, four) Right now, hahaha... I am an antichrist I am an anarchist, Don't know what I want But know how to get it. Want to destroy Mr. Slate Cause I wanna be Fred Flintstone Anarchy in Bedrock Stop it sometime it makes Betty and Wilma Try some flint upside down rubble bubble Or you can just try Fruity Pebbles Cause I wanna be Fred Flintstone In bedrock its the only way to be Many ways to get what you want I use Ministry I use Barney Rubble I use anarchy Cause I wanna be, Fred Flintstone YABBA DABBA DOO! Is this the USPA? Is this Hollywood? Is this Bedrock? I thought it was Hollyrock Cause I wanna be Fred Flintstone And I wanna be Fred Flintstone And I wanna be Fred Flintstone Wilma!