10 Songs: Sunday, June 15th, 2014

sucks

1. Toreador Song – Christopher Lee – Electric guitar riffs to introduce the Bizet thunder and lightning with Lee’s harsh, unprettified singing interrupted guitar solos, the main question being, why bother? At 91, Lee may very well be immortal – C

2. Back Off Boogaloo – Ringo Starr – Why is he not performing this one on the tour? The masterful ode to glam rock and the late lamented Marc Bolan (who I met a week before he died at a Manchester private pub called the Film Exchange), a great song but this isn’t a great version off Stop And Smell The Roses – B+

3. VIP – Sinead O’Connor – In which she calls Bono getting his picture with the Pope a sick April Fool’s Day joke – A

4. Pills N Potions – Nicki Minaj – Dr. Luke’s fingerprints are all over this song and it has all the hallmarks of a huge hit, a bit kitchen sinky but the song is absolutely all there – B+

5. Apron Strings – Cliff Richard And The Drifters – This song is so old, they weren’t the Shadows yet but Marvin’s awesome rockabilly solo proves they were close enough – A+

6. Dennis – Glenn Tilbrook – Never the lyricist Difford was, the problem with the new one isn’t the words, it’s the music, though the lick here is tasty and catchy and the lyric is pretty great as well – A-

7. Cut Your Hair – Pavement – Malkmus’ off kilter sidetracked sing speak seldom used to better effect and the to-do-do-does are terrific – A

8. Bell Boy – Live In London 2013 – Yeah, they resurrected Moon’s vocal – B+

9. No Strings – Chloe Howl – Hopes she has twins, so let that be a lesson to us all – A

10.  Morning Blues – Ethan Johns – In anticipation of his latest release, produced by Ryan Adams, just making sure he sucks as bad as I think he does – C