Gosh darn it. I'm sorry for missing our regular Monday installment of Song of the Week. And I'm almost as sorry to tell you that I don't have much time to get to it today. I am posting a lovely song, but no pithy comments. Boo Hoo.So, our SOTW this week comes from Stockholm, Sweden. Sometime around 1966, these cats who called themselves The Tages recorded a groovy bass heavy song called The Man You'll Be Looking For. Anyone who knows me knows that I love me the sound of an aggressive bass. Mmmmm! And this one has a bottom so big that it would make Sir Mix-A-Lot fall in love.
Also linked is a wonderful little radio interview with some unga Svenska flicka who gushes over her love of the song, saying, and I quote: "de gummistövlar göra mina bröstvårtor rött". I couldn't agree with her more.
So, please have an enjoyable listen to The Tages' Man You'll Be Looking For and then click on the Swedish radio interview on the left. Or do it in the opposite fashion. I don't care.
Yorgada torgada bungada!
that is the SONG I'm looking for! thank you. I do miss the nice way you normally arrange your words, however. ed
ReplyDeleteHey Ed! I agree - cool tune. Can't turn off my 'crib'ometer though. Those really poppy first couple lines are straight out of Dancing in the Street a la Martha and the Vandellas. I would love to hear more of that intro guitar - it helps define the song with a slightly psych edge. I also notice they bookend the song with chords rising at the start and falling at the end.
ReplyDeleteJack, you are 100% correct. I have never noticed that. It's even pretty close to the same words. He falls off the melody pretty quickly but you can be sure he was listening to Dancing In The Streets when our young Swede was writing his words in English.
ReplyDeleteNow, to point, the fairly dopey lyrics in the Tages song is not what makes the song so great. It's the music. That bass just rumbles along with a nice zero mid-range tone. Each of those bass breaks just floor me every time. Perhaps oddly, I have always loved the bass break at 1:42 which is only two beats of a single note. In context of all the other crazy bass work, this minimalism gives the song a certain map point that is really important, I think.
Here are the Vandellas doing Dancing... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdvITn5cAVc&feature=related
I have to say, Dancing in the Streets is one of my LEAST favorite songs ever. It's just so over done. Heatwave too. Ugh. For real god awful performance of Dancing, search for Mick and Bowie doing it. Yikes that is bad.
hey Moggie I was immediately reminded of your "aggressive bass" and "bottom so big" comments when I stumbled this morning across this video:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mydamnchannel.com/channel.aspx?episode=454
Gebis -- you are making all sorts of Flip-Side connections. This song is a mutation on the same jazz number Mel Torme was covering as seen here: http://ontheflip-side.blogspot.com/2009/03/mel-torme-im-coming-home.html
ReplyDeleteBut the version this band covers was first done by Mr. Johnny Horton who got a little write-up on the Flip-Side last year: http://ontheflip-side.blogspot.com/2008/12/song-of-week-honky-tonk-hardwood-floor.html#
Thanks for sharing this. I know nothing about these guys but really enjoyed the vid.
Honestly, I dont know them but I love their music. Great post.
ReplyDeleteCassy from Acoustic Guitar Online