81: Head For the Girl I Left Behind

81. "Down In the Silvermine" by Diesel [iTunes? Yes] {Video: Yes, but we'll get to that in a minute.}

First of all, yes, I know I probably have the wrong song by Diesel on this list. "Sausalito Summer Night" was the one hit Diesel had in America, and it is a fantastic song. It's got that driving, memorable guitar riff. It's a great story song about a road trip in an old junker car. And, it actually mentions root beer. It's a great song, and it is very deserving to be on the HondoJoe Top 200.

But it isn't. Instead, I chose "Down In the Silvermine." It's a song that definitely falls into the "I don't know why I like it, I just do" category. It never made it onto the Hot 100, but I do remember hearing it on the radio a few times. And I liked it. It's happy. It's jaunty. It speaks positively about a good work ethic. It's fun. "Days are long but the work is fine, down in the silvermine!"



Based on "Sausalito Summer Night" you (and I) probably would guess that Diesel is a group from somewhere around the San Francisco Bay area. You (and I) would be wrong. Diesel is actually a Dutch group from the Netherlands and/or Holland.

I have never personally understood the naming here. Is it the Netherlands or is it Holland. And if it is either one of those, why in the heck are they the Dutch??? Deutschland is Germany, so shouldn't they be the Dutch? Can't they be Netherlanders or Hollandaise? How many freaking names does this dadgum little country need?

Looking very Hollandesque. 

Speaking of names, Diesel was a four man band with some excellent rock and roll names. Let's consider them one at a time:

Rob Vunderink-lead singer. I can picture someone with a bad, exaggerated German accent saying something like, "I vas vunderink if I should change my name from Rob to Robbie."

Mark Boon-guitar. No relation to Daniel Boone. (As far as I know.)

Frank Papendrecht-bass. Could be someone's negative assessment of the Pilsbury dough boy. "Pop 'N Fresh? No, more like Papendrecht!"

And, finally, the whole reason for going over these names:

Pim Koopman-drums. Yes, that's right, the drummer's name is Pim Koopman. Go ahead and try to say it several times without slipping up once and calling him "Kim Poopman."It can't be done. This, my friend, is one of the greatest names in the storied history of rock and/or roll! Pim Koopman!!!

Apparently to other Netherlandiers, Pim Koopman is better known from his days in the band Kayak than as the drummer of Diesel. (Maybe they have diesel powered kayaks in Holland.) (Or maybe the Netherlands.) (Possibly the Dutch.)

When I looked for a video for this song, the first thing I found was this: Down In the Silvermine 1. It's not the best quality, but what do you expect from an old Hollandanian television program. The highlights are Rob Vunderink's Joker-ish grin, Mark Boon sporting a classic Diane Keaton hairdo, along with a creepy Doug Henning mustache, and the all-too-rare glimpses of a very intense Pim Koopman on the drums.

But then, with a little more digging, I hit the jackpot! The first video was somewhat amusing, but the second video is a downright hoot. Here it is: Down In the Silvermine 2 (with dancers!) Apparently this video is from some Dutchian kid show. It starts out with the creepy, winking, ringleader/host who looks like the kind of guy who always thinks he's about five times funnier than he actually is.

We see the band for an instant, but then in march the dancers! There are four attractive women in ill-fitting shiny silver jumpsuits. And, of course, these women are carrying pick-axes! These are good looking Netherlandish women, but as a dancing troupe they are not nearly as talented as the Marsh Valley High School Drill Team. (I don't mean that as an insult to the Marsh Valley Drill Team. You could, literally, pick any four girls off of the drill team and they would dance better than these four Hollandanian babes.) The dance moves are lame, they don't do them in unison, and at one point as the women are swinging their pick-axes I was actually fearful for some of the children in the front rows. (Thankfully the least competent dancer somehow misplaced her pick-axe and was left to pantomime, or someone may have lost an eye.)

The other area where this video improves upon the first one is that Kim Poopman Pim Koopman has been moved to where he is in front of the other band members, the better to show off his incredible technique. Now, I doubt that Will Ferrell and the writers on Saturday Night Live studied old Netherlandic kid show videos before making the famous "More Cowbell" sketch, but I wouldn't be shocked if they did. Watching Pim Koopman flailing away on the drums, I'm seeing the same beard as worn by Will Ferrell's character, and a similar tight shirt. I only wish they had let Pim Koopman try to explore the studio space with some cowbell. (Or maybe a pick-axe.)

COMING UP NEXT: Mmm….Turkey!

82: I Heard Them Laugh, I Heard Them Cry

82. "Dreaming of 4000" by Electric Light Orchestra [iTunes? Yes.] {Video? No.}

This song is all over the place. It starts off with a rocking guitar riff. It drifts into a slow ballad. It changes pace several times. It has great use of that early Electric Light Orchestra orchestration.

It really is a song that sounds like no other song.

It comes from the album "On the Third Day," which I think is a fantastic album from beginning to end. It's also the album that has the cover with all of the members of ELO exposing their belly buttons.

The infamous "Belly-Button" album cover! (If you look closely enough, you might even see some lint.)

While it's not exactly the greatest album cover ever, it is actually pretty funny. (I had owned the album, on cassette, for several years before I noticed all the belly-buttoning. I'm not always the most observant person in the room, but in my defense the picture on that cassette was pretty small.)

Unfortunately, as the years went by Jeff Lynne had a falling out with almost everyone else who was ever in the band. (More on that when I finally get around to writing "The Brief (Ha!) History of ELO and the ELO Family Tree of Musical Acts.") And, because of this falling out, when Lynne released the album re-issues in recent years, he changed the album cover, removing all of the belly-button pointing in favor of posing himself as God. Here's the new album cover:

And on the third day, Jeff Lynne eliminated his bandmates. And he was much pleased.

Sorry, but I prefer the belly-buttons. (If you don't believe me, just ask Barbara Eden.)

COMING UP NEXT: Diesel and dust!

83: Jonas Nordwall Has a Large Organ (And he knows how to use it)

83. "Tragedy" by Jonas Nordwall  [Nothing. No iTunes, no video. Nothing.]

Back in the day, I used to spend a fair amount of time in thrift stores looking for old records. I especially looked for odd and/or funny album covers, or albums that might contain odd and/or funny songs on them.

One subcategory of albums I would look for would be albums featuring the organ. I'm not totally sure why. Part of it might have been because of a joke once told by David Letterman discussing  the Oscar-nominated movie "The Piano" and comparing it unfavorably with a movie you might see at Times Square called "The Organ." For some reason this joke appealed to my sophomoric and/or moronic sense of humor.

Anyway, I ended up buying a few random albums of organ music. I didn't often listen to these albums, because I'm not actually a big fan of organ music. Usually. But then I saw that one of these organ albums featured a song by the name of "Tragedy."

Does the size of the organ really matter? Opinions vary.

It couldn't be the same song as "Tragedy" by the Bee Gees from their "Spirits Having Flown" album, could it? The song that is a definite Honorable Mention to the HondoJoe Top 200, my favorite Bee Gees song (slightly ahead of "You Should Be Dancing"), and a song that we played in pep band back in the day? I had to find out.

And what I found was that yes, indeed, it was "Tragedy!" But it was "Tragedy" as I had never heard it before! With Jonas Nordwall pounding it out on the organ, "Tragedy" is about as happy and fun of a song as you'll be likely to hear! (The only "tragedy" is that Nordwall's version of the song is not available on iTunes or YouTube. It really is a hoot!)

 A young Jonas Nordwall (and his large organ).

And that's how David Letterman, Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Jonas Nordwall, and a very large organ conspired to help make a happy little tune called "Tragedy" one of my favorite songs of all time!

COMING UP NEXT: Dream a little dream.

84: Everybody Needs a Bosom for a Pillow

84. "Brimful of Asha" by Cornershop [iTunes? Yes.] {Video: Brimful of Asha. (It's a pretty clever video, with the band "playing" on a bunch of old 45 sleeves.)}

This one is firmly in the "I don't know why I like it so much, but I do" column. Is it the frequent repeating of the number 45, evoking days of misspent youth and misspent money on old 45 singles? Is it the generous use of the word bosom? Is it the fact that, yes, "everybody needs a bosom for a pillow?" Or is it that the song has a really good groove to it, a groove that makes me move?

Probably a little of all of the above.

This is another one of those mid-late 90s songs. I heard it and I liked it. Of course, back in those days if I really liked a song I would track it down and buy the album. Unfortunately, other than a cover of "Norwegian Wood" by the Beatles, I found the rest of Cornershop's album to be a grand overabundance of sitar. Lots and lots of sitar. (A little sitar goes a long ways.)

The 90s were an awkward time. If I liked a song in the 70s or the early 80s, I would just buy the 45. And then, once the 2000s rolled around, if I like a single I could purchase it on iTunes. But the 90s? No. You had to buy the whole album.

It was a two-edged sword. Often I would end up with useless "one-song" albums like this one from Cornershop, or the one by Nine Days, featuring "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" and a whole bunch of unmemorable flotsam. But, occasionally I would find an album full of great songs that would turn me into a fan of a group, like what happened to me with Harvey Danger and the Old 97s.

Who knows, maybe I missed out on a bunch of great groups in the past and the present because I only bought the single. Maybe Bourgeois Tagg, Katrina and the Waves, or the other Wade Egan had albums that I would have fallen in love with if I'd only given them a chance? Was there more to M than just "Pop Muzik?" I'll probably never know.

While I think that over, I'll listen again to "Brimful of Asha" and its talk of 45s. (It's got a groove that makes me move.)

COMING UP NEXT: Your organ is showing!

85: You Really Know How to Dance

85. "What I Like About You" by the Romantics {#49; 2/80} [iTunes? Yes] {Video: What I Like About You.}

This is definitely a "what were we thinking" song. When this song was released in February of 1980, the number one song in the country was "Do That To Me One More Time" by The Captain and Tennille. Seriously. And yet, the highest that "What I Like About You" could make it on the charts is #49. Really? Really??? REALLY???

(What were we thinking?)

Of course, this song has stood the test of time a bit better than "Do That To Me One More Time." And that's probably because it is a near-perfect pop song. It is so incredible, in fact, that I think it is time for a Running Diary of What Makes This Song So Great.

For the purposes of this Running Diary of What Makes This Song So Great, I will be using the video I linked to above. The comments will be about the actual song as one would hear it on the radio, not about the video. (That said, let me just say that I was a bit surprised, and am always impressed, when it turns out the drummer is also the lead vocalist. I have a hard enough time walking and chewing gum at the same time, I can't even fathom drumming and singing simultaneously.)

So, without further ado (because there's certainly already been enough ado) here is the Running Diary of What Makes This Song So Great:

0:01-Nice guitars
0:05-Hand claps!
0:11-Hey!
0:15-Uh-huh.
0:17-Hey!
0:20-Uh-huh.
0:23-Lyrics start with the song title, are understandable, and are sing-alongable.
0:34-Yeah!
0:36-Ah-ah. (Back-up singers.)
0:42-That's what I like. (Repetitive back-up singers, singing the song title repeatedly.)
0:59-Yeah!
1:00-Ah-ah. (Back-up singers.)
1:06-That's what I like. (Repetitive back-up singers.)
1:17-SCREAM!!! (And it's a very good scream!)
1:20-Guitars.
1:30-Hey!
1:31-Harmonica solo!
2:05-Yeah!
2:07-Ah-ah. (Back-up singers.)
2:13-That's what I like. (Repetitive back-up singers.)
2:23-Exaggerated whisper!!!
2:36-Hey!
2:39-Uh-huh.
2:40-2:42-Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
2:45-Uh-huh.
2:46-Lip Blubbering!!!
2:48-Hey!
2:51-Uh-huh.
2:54-Hey!

That's some dang fine work! I've noted before that I am a big fan of hand claps, and they do a fine job of including them here. (Maybe they could have worked in one more round of hand claps? That might be asking a bit much.)

They have an excellent scream, and the multiple uses of "Hey!" are fabulous. But, I think it's the use of the exaggerated whisper and the lip blubbering that really push this song to the top. Those are two underused techniques that are very, very effective.

And then, of course, is the ending. One of the best endings of any pop and/or rock song ever. They simply give out one more yell of "Hey!", then drop the mic and walk away. Perfect!

Hey!

COMING UP NEXT: 19 Bosoms!