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5:11 p.m. - March 12, 2008
Smed's Top 200 - #133 to #122. Passive? Agressive? Who Me?
Ah, there�s nothing like collateral damage and shrapnel to start your day off right, eh?

Also nothing like remembering that you forgot to call someone back when you said that you would. Oops.

So, with all of that, through the magic of stored files, I�m going to restart Smed�s Countdown. But first, �Promises� by the Buzzcocks (a loud bunch of Brits) are in my earphones, and I don�t wanna mess with it right now.

�Why did you ever let me down? Those promises were made for us��

There�

Let�s begin.

133. Big Eyed Beans From Venus � Captain Beefheart. �Mr. Zoot Horn Rollo, hit that long lunar note�and let it flow�.� This is the key track from one of the most accessible Beefheart albums, Clear Spot. It�s a wonder of design, intrigue, and madness all rolled into a wonderful package. This clip was from a French TV show with a later incarnation of the band, including Richard Midnight Hatsize Snyder on guitar, but the essence of the tune is the same. Revel in the goodness.

132. Half Day Closing � Portishead. I have run hot and cold on Portishead in the past, but I think it�s now permanently on warmer than tepid but not boiling. They�re a moody lot, and in the wrong mood they can really bogue your high. But sometimes, especially on days like this, you need something that feels how you feel and isn�t all emo either. They released a brilliant record with a live string section recorded in NYC, and this clip is from the video of that recording. Brilliant.

131. Pandora�s Golden Heebie Jeebies � The Association. I�ve written about this song before, but it�s still a tale to spin. The band had two big hits with �Along Comes Mary� and �Cherish�, so for their second album, they jettison their producer, decide to try and record themselves, and choose for their single a hippy-dippy tune that is miles away from the thoughts and feeling of �Cherish�. Somehow, it made the Top 30, and somehow, they recovered. Of course, they recovered with �Windy�, and left brilliant, but odd, songs like this as album tracks instead of singles. The vid is some random dude filming something or other, but it has the tune, and that�s key.

130. The Tigers Have Spoken � Neko Case. Wow, this is where the earliest songs in my iPod have an advantage. This was the title track from her live album (not the Austin album), and I played the heck out of it and mixed it a few times when it was new. Neko�s still my honey!

129. Any Time You Want Love � The Dave Clark Five. Now, iTunes has released a hits package of the DC5, so soon, these albums would be available. This is another obscure album cut that I wrangled from the Italian CD and have mixed the hell out of it, mainly because it�s polished and unheard. Nothing wrong with that.

128. Shake Your Halo Down � Shudder To Think. �Halo� is about halfway in this clip. But the words are teh awesome!!!!1! To wit: �Dip a cloth in a bowl of blood / clean your horses hide with it / Stick a fish in a tattoo gun / watch what color ink comes out / Die gin bottle wedged in wet hand / Best at what I do, mom says.

Shake your halo down like snow / from a pregnant cloud about to blow / Makes a neckbrace, a belt. and then a hole in the ground.�

See? Awesome dude!

127. Emergency � 999. Now Stepfie, THESE are the LOUD BRITS! Do you agree? YES OR NO?? Isn�t that just the pinnacle of argh? And as you know, �999� is the �911� in the UK, so there�s that then! Smed�s always happy to drop the 411 on my peeps, yo.

126. Wiggly World � Devo. You know, never straight up and down! Never. Not in the least.

125. Old Red Eyes Is Back � The Beautiful South. Sometimes when I discover a band that I had ignored previously, I jump in with both barrels. I mixed this one a great deal a year ago or so, and it�s still a winner. Us na�ve Americans really need to check them out!

124. I Wonder � The Gants. The Nuggets collections yielded a treasure trove of great, hidden, forgotten songs. This band was from Mississippi, and wrote a lot of great originals but the record company always wanted to release covers as singles. Yeesh. But as you can hear, those originals are wonderful!

123. Bad Time � Grand Funk Railroad. Everybody sing! �I�m in love but I sure picked a bad time�to be in love� Slag GFR all you want, but this song is brilliant! Brilliant!

122. Oh Yeah � The Subways. You know there are some songs that you can�t help to play over and over and over again. This is one of those songs for me! I love the barely restrained drumming! Kick bootay!

I gotta leave you on that high note, peeps. Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah! Until next time, keep your feet on the ground, keep reaching for the stars.

Yeah�that�s it. OH YEAH! OH YEAH!

 

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