Doe Paoro - "Born Whole"

Doe Paoro is a New York based singer/songwriter with a difference. The difference is that while traveling through the Himalayas, she trained in Lhamo, a Tibetan folk opera tradition, at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts. The style of singing in the tradition that dates back to the 14th century, is described as being vocally acrobatic. Her vocal training was life changing for her.... and as you will hear on "Born Whole," we are the better for it. "Born Whole" was inspired by a woman she met in Cambodia who had lost her husband during the Khmer Rouge period, while pregnant. She told her about her constant search for another husband. This made her think about the mythical idea that we must have that partner for our life to be complete. Like we are born whole but become half when we lose that attachment. It's a beautiful piano led indie-pop/soul song - oh, her vocals are pretty good as well.

Napoleon XIV - "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" and much, much more....

Napoleon XIV's one hit wonder "They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!" was released in 1966. It was a big hit but lost its momentum after many stations in the USA banned it because of the mental health theme. Basically, the song is about a guy losing his marbles after his dog disappears. It was quite clever at the time because of the new technology that allowed the change of pitch, as if being sped up, but without any change to the tempo - a technique that became quite common and annoying... chipmunks come to mind. While it is quite basic, and is nothing other than novelty, it still holds up quite well today.



The B-Side was the song played backwards. There a no satanic messages but it's freaky all the same. I'm tempted to playlist this on Bitter FM.
"!AAAH-AH ،YAWA ƎM ƎʞAT OT ʚИIMOƆ ƎЯ'YƎHT"


"They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!" actually had an answer song (I love answer songs) released the same year - it was from, who else? but Josephine XV. The song "I'm Happy They Took You Away, Ha-Haaa!" was from her perspective and used much the same song structure. One comment on Youtube about this song was "I think they took the wrong person away" and I can't disagree with that.
Josephine XV - "I'm Happy They Took You Away, Ha-Haaa!"


But wait there is more!
The Emperor (aka. Bob Hudson) released "I'm Normal" in the same year, still. It was more an imitation or parody than a cover version.
The Emperor - "I'm Normal"

Three Phone Calls

Jerky Boys - "Auto Mechanic"
We will start this phone call trilogy with The Jerky Boys. The prank calls from these guys were regularly played on bFM and we couldn't get enough of the Frank Rizzo character. It led to bad impersonations at the pub with even worse New York accents.



Bob Newhart - "Defusing A Bomb"
Bob Newhart's stand-up comedy routines were predominantly one sided phone conversations. His deadpan delivery was key to his success in a style of comedy that he made his own.



Fred Dagg - "The Phone Call"
During the 70's John Clarke's Fred Dagg character was a local hero. The stereotypical Kiwi farmer allowed us, including stereotypical farmers, to laugh at ourselves and our culture.

David Lynch - "Star Dream Girl"

David Lynch is better known as a film director, but his films usually have a strong musical component to them - from increasing the impact of dark, intense and disturbing visual scenes, to musical performances from either cast members or from artists in a dingy darkly lit bar. His most successful collaboration was with Angelo Badalamenti for the Twin Peaks TV series. David Lynch has just released his second solo album 'The Big Dream' and while it is miles away from 'Twin Peaks,' it is still captivating. Like his movies, there is no predictable direction or conclusion. The first single "Star Dream Girl" is a powerful gothic blues gem.

Suede - "Indian Strings"

"Indian Strings" comes from Suede's 1999 album 'Head Music.' Brett Anderson may be singing about heartbreak, but with the sweeping strings and wonderful psychedelic indie-pop soundtrack, our empathy is easily replaced with self-centred enjoyment.
Post brit-pop glory!

Lee Hazlewood - "Some Velvet Morning" - Phaedra & Grandpa

Lee Hazlewood's final album 'Cake or Death' was released after his diagnosis of renal cancer. It was a fitting farewell. He even included friends and family on a couple of tracks. One was his granddaughter Phaedra, who thought "Some Velvet Morning" was written about her. Something like this would normally come across as self indulgent and tacky, but not when it is Lee Hazlewood. Priceless.



If that whet your appetite - here is the original

Eleanor Friedberger - "Stare at the Sun"

Eleanor Friedberger released her second solo album 'Personal Record' last month and it is worthy of all the praise. Her original band 'The Fiery Furnaces' (a duo with her brother Matthew) broke up or went on hiatus a few years ago and she has reinvented herself as a solo artist with much more consistent songwriting. The Fiery Furnaces were great at times but were also sometimes either self-indulgent or intentionally challenging. 'Personal Record' is strong throughout. "Stare at the Sun" is catchy, hypnotic and upbeat - an ideal indie rock single and perfect for radio. The album is very much a personal record, the themes and lyrics are certainly ambiguous, but also quite revealing at times.