Sunday, April 18, 2004
Connected two pairs of songs in the last couple days:
- I heard the song "Dream Police" by Cheap Trick on the radio, and it reminded me a lot of the New Pornographers' work, esp. songs like "Electric Version." I don't know much by Cheap Trick, but it sure sounds like they're a major influence on NP.
- Recently was given the new Steve Miller greatest hits collection (I love it! "Abracadabra" has always been one of my favorite songs.) The first song, "Take the Money and Run" has the background vocalists singing a great "whoo hoo!", and it struck me that it's where Sheryl Crow got the touch for her excellent single, "Steve McQueen," (which is on her fantastic greatest hits collection).
I love all four songs! I'm always tracing things backwards because there's so much pop/rock I don't know, esp. pre-1985 or so. I'm not at all criticizing the latter songs for "ripping off" the earlier elements. Artists always borrow (or steal), and I think that's fine as long as they use those borrowed elements to do something good. In the case of the New Pornographers, I've started branching out into the solo work of the various band members, so I hope to write more about that soon. Looking forward to the new Destroyer album--my first impression, from listening booths, is that it's very strange.
