Archive | February, 2012

Feel Good Inc.

2 Feb

Hi everybody. The first week of school has been very hectic for me. I’m running around like a chicken with its head cut off, one that is going to meetings and interviews anyway. Even decapitated chickens need jobs. So this week’s post will be rather succinct.

Everyone has heard of the Gorillaz song “Feel Good Inc.” right? Just in case you haven’t, here it is.

The song is an amazing rock, hip-hop fusion which become incredibly famous and rightfully so. The song flows so naturally from rapping to acoustic guitars that it actually allows rap haters to appreciate the art (yes me). Also, being the first band to really try something like this successfully has helped them become famous.

Now, I want you to compare the original version of the song to this cover, performed by a girl named Josie Charlwood.

The first thing you have to realize is that this entire song is done real-time with a couple of loop pedals and other hardware. Not only is this girl musically talented, but she is also technologically savvy. I am almost convinced by now that the cover is better than the original. The sound of her guitar mixed with her voice creates a milky sweet sound which does the original justice. The rap line blows me away with ending slur and the “hahaha’s”. There’s something incredibly attractive about a girl who can do that.

&)

-oko

P.S. I have new tunes in the works!

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Putting New Mexico on the Music Map – The Fireballs and “Sugar Shack”

1 Feb

Let’s travel back in time and explore some pre-British Invasion American rock n’ roll. For the past few installments of this category, I have featured a good amount of late 60s psychedelic/progressive acts and I do believe it is necessary to diversify. It is difficult for many who did not live during the 60s (or are familiar with the decade’s music) to believe that there was popular American music in the decade prior to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The “British Invasion” is known to have started in 1964 (even though you can put that date two years earlier when The Tornados had a huge hit in the US with “Telstar – let’s just keep it at 1964). There was a solid four years of rock n’ roll prior to this date.

The music was heavily influenced by 50’s rock n’ roll – poppy, bubbly, danceable, melodious. It’s fun, innocent, and clean-cut music. The musicians fit the bill as well. I think there is a charm to early 60’s music and I enjoy listening to vocalists sing about love, dating, and loss (there was a brief obsession with death pop – we will get into that another time). One such band that had success during this time was New Mexico’s The Fireballs, and their lead singer Jimmy Gilmer.

A lot of people just went, “OH! I remember this song.” Not surprising. This was a HUGE hit in 1963. Before we delve into Gilmer’s stylings, let’s look a bit at the band’s history. Like I said, they originated in New Mexico. George Tomsco (lead guitar), Chuck Tharp (vocals), Stan Lark (bass), Eric Budd (drums), and Dan Trammell (rhythm guitar), formed an instrumental band in the late 50s. They recorded and released a few semi-popular hits. After  Budd, Trammell, and Tharp left the group in the early 1960s, the group added Doug Roberts on drums and vocalist Jimmy Gilmer, a Texas-raised singer.

That line-up recorded the group’s most well known songs. “Quite a Party,” which peaked at #29 in the UK charts in 1961, was the band’s first true hit. In 1963, the band released “Sugar Shack” which saw a meteoric rise in popularity going to #1 for five weeks in the U.S.A., with 15 weeks in Billboard hot 100. The Fireballs became the first New Mexico band to ever have a #1 vocal song with “Sugar Shack.”

“Sugar Shack” is your classic ditty. It comes and goes with precision. The light-hearted keyboard riff is infectious and Gilmer’s voice, featuring a little Buddy Holly twang (Holly recorded in the same studio as the Fireballs, by the way), works well in the song.

Before I leave you, here is another song by the Fireballs from 1960. Notice the laid-back harmony and George Tomsco’s underrated, skillful rock n’ roll guitar.  I hope it makes you smile!

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