Courtesy of longtime reader Ali … how about some more ska? (My love of Madness is already documented here.) Fishbone hails from that heady time when punk and new wave and ska and everything else were percolating together in pop music.
Horn Sections Make Rock Better: Somebody’s Always Trying
Another recommendation from a longtime listener (thanks, Dan–your live music knowledge goes farther than almost everybody else!): Samantha Fish. Here she is covering a Ted Taylor classic live. In the same key no less–with a lot more guitar solo.
Horn Sections Make Rock Better: Come Together
I mentioned a while back that I sent out a request for more Horn Sections Make Rock Better songs. This discovery (thanks Kelli!) is a group of Berklee alums who have backed up a number of pop stars. The Regiment Horns, live:
Horn Sections Make Rock Better: Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
This is in honor of Ed, a manager at one of my clients. We had a long talk last week about how the ’90s changed music for the better. You can look up plenty of articles singing the praises of 1991: Metal had its swan songs in Guns N’ Roses’s Use Your Illusion and Metallica’s Black album. Alternative went from …
Horn Sections Make Rock Better: The Floral Dance
A few months ago, I realized I was running out of rock songs with horn sections. I sent out a call on social media: Send me your horn section picks. A British cousin sent me this song that is, shall we say, rock-adjacent. Being an American, I was not familiar with the BBC broadcaster Wogan–unless you count a bizarre homage …
Horn Sections Make Rock Better: Hugo the Human Cannonball
More cheating this week, but I love Ray Stevens. It’s pop novelty, not rock. But he’s clever. This song is clever, dark and somehow sweet. Don’t ask me to explain the MS Paint-esque video. I think he deserves better. Now for the mystery: This is the official recording on the official Ray Stevens YouTube page. But it is NOT the …
Horn Sections Make Rock Better: Wild Weekend
I’m cheating today. You may have noticed I am really strict about featured songs including horn SECTIONS, not just a horn. But: I happen to have worked with Mickey Kipler, the sax player for this band that toured with Roy Orbison and appeared on American Bandstand. Years after meeting him, I met a seasoned sales veteran in another state. He …
Horn Sections Make Rock Better: The Universal
Blur perhaps isn’t for everybody. And a Clockwork Orange-referencing video isn’t for everybody either. (It’s a song from a band that proclaimed “Modern Life Is Rubbish,” then made an album discussing “The Great Escape.” The escape described in this song sounds like more modern rubbish. More of that postmodern cry for authenticity.) Regardless, there’s a really nice version of the …
Horn Sections Make Rock Better: Everyday People
Sly & the Family Stone are without doubt foundational to funk as a genre and to about a million other aspects of music and culture. Still, I wonder how these lyrics are perceived in today’s diversity-and-inclusion world. I’m reminded of U2’s not-so-brave stance against apartheid. Also: Who cares. What a great tune.
Horn Sections Make Rock Better: Got to Get You Into My Life
A third Beatles song on this blog? Well, why not.