Search This Blog

Thursday 16 July 2015

Music is the Doctor #10: Guitar and Drum



This week's Music is the Doctor is a shout out to The Guitar and to The Drum.
Twenty Tracks spotlighting two of the most vital instruments in Rock and Roll.


Guitar and Drum - Stiff Little Fingers.
"I believe
I believe in the power of guitar and drum
I believe in the hope held in a song
I believe that the music makes you strong
I believe in the power of guitar and drum"

Two Guitars Clash - Stiff Little Fingers.
"I heard the sound of 2 guitars clash
I wanna hear the 2 guitar clash
We're gonna make the 2 guitars clash"

Sound of the Suburbs - The Members.
"Johnny's upstairs in his bedroom sitting in the dark,
Annoying the neighbours with his punk rock electric guitar,
This is the Sound,
This is the Sound of the Suburbs"

Jail Guitar Doors - The Clash.
Wayne is Mr Kramer of MC5.
Pete is Mr Green of Fleetwood Mac.
Keith is Mr Richards of Rolling Stones.

Guitar Town - Steve Earle.
"Nothin' ever happened 'round my hometown
And I ain't the kind to just hang around
But I heard someone callin' my name one day
And I followed that voice down the lost highway
Everybody told me you can't get far
On thirty-seven dollars and a jap guitar
Now I'm smokin' into Texas with the hammer down
And a rockin' little combo from the Guitar Town"

New Guitar in Town - Honest John Plain and the Landslide Ladies.
Original version was released by The Lurkers and featured HJP on Guitar. He then released an album with Lurkers Guitarist Pete Stride called New Guitars in Town.

Tennessee Flat Top Box - Roseanne Cash.
"Well, he couldn't ride or wrangle, and he never cared to make a dime.
But give him his guitar, and he'd be happy all the time.
And all the girls from nine to ninety,
Were snapping fingers, tapping toes, and begging him: "Don't stop."
And hypnotized and fascinated,
By the little dark-haired boy who played the Tennessee flat top box"
Apparently when Roseanne first started to play this she was unaware that it was her Daddy's song.

(Dance with the) Guitar Man - Duane Eddy.
One of the first in a long line of Guitar Heroes!

Play Guitar - John Cougar Mellencamp.
"You may drive around in your town
In a brand new shiny car
Your face in the wind your haircut's in
And your friends think you're bizarre
You may find a cushy job and I hope that you go far
But if you really want to taste some cool success
You better learn to play guitar"

Rosebud - Ryan Adams and The Cardinals.
"When I pick up my guitar,
this is the song that always comes."

Don't Bang the Drum - The Waterboys.
"Here we are in a fabulous place
What are you gonna dream here?
We are standing in this fabulous place
What are you gonna play here?
I know you love the high life, you love to leap around
You love to beat your chest and make your sound
but not here man - this is sacred ground
with a Power flowing through
And if I know you you'll bang the drum
like monkeys do"

Drums Over London - Disco Zombies.
A little shout out to Forest Hill where I grew up. This was the first band I ever was a Roadie for (not a very good one mind you!). When this record came out myself and a few school mates who used to bunk off school together helped Andy Ross stamp the labels for these and folder the picture sleeves down there in Counterpoint Records on the London Road.

D is for Drums - They Might Be Giants.
 "I can't remember what 'D' is for
You can't remember what 'D' is for?
I think it's for an instrument you play in a band
I'm surprised you can't remember what 'D' is for
I can't remember there's too much noise
Put your thinking cap on John, I'll give you a hint

See, I can't find my thinking cap, I think it's lost
John, come on, tell me, 'D' is for what?
'D' is for something that you play with sticks
That's right, that's right, you're getting close
'D' is for drums!
Yes, 'D' is for drums!
'D' is for drums!
Yes, 'D' is for drums!
Well, I'm glad we got that straight"

She Bangs the Drum - Stone Roses.
"Have you seen her have you heard
The way she plays there are no words
To describe the way I feel
She Bangs the Drum"

Distant Drums - Roy Orbison.
"I hear the sound of distant drums
Far away, far away
And if they call for me to come
Then I must go and you must stay"

Let There Be Drums - Sandy Nelson.
"Let There Be Drums" is a 1961 instrumental composed by American drummer Sandy Nelson and guitarist Richard Podolor, who later became a renowned record producer. The piece is a guitar and drums duet and is an early example of surf music. It was released as a Sandy Nelson single on Imperial Records and was a charted hit, reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Drummer Man - Tonight.
They only released a few singles and an album before vanishing (though I hear that they are out and about again playing shows!). One of the first bands to be labelled Power Pop! This single reached #14 in the charts back in 1978.

Drummer Boy - Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls.
"Kill for your brothers,
they must eat
Move through the shadows
the silent  beat
Drummer boy"
Taken from the most magnificent Self-Titled album released back in 1980 and reissued in a Deluxe format in 2014.

My Heart is a Drummer - Allo, Darlin'.
"You'd say 'Baby, you don't know but my heart is as strong as a drummer'"

I Still Believe - Frank Turner.
"And I still believe in the saints.
Yeah, in Jerry Lee and in Johnny and all the greats.

And I still believe in the sound,
That has the power to raise a temple and tear it down.

And I still believe in the need,
For guitars and drums and desperate poetry.

And I still believe that everyone,
Can find a song for every time they've lost and every time they've won."


No comments:

Blog Archive

Popular Posts