William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

From: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! ; Year: 1978; Genre: New Wave Enjoying some of their early work today; amazing that I went this long without choosing this track, which is among their standards. Originally recorded as a single about a year prior, it was re-recorded for their debut album. Although it only did well in the U.K., this rather complex ditty about human devolution is still one a lot of fans adore to this day.     Hear Jocko Homo on YouTube. Hear the original single version on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Three Dog Night - Pieces of April   My song pick 2 years ago today: Alice in Chains - Hate to Feel   My song pick 3 years ago today: Midnight Oil - Sell My Soul   My song pick 4 years ago today: Ohio Players - Love Rollercoaster   My song pick 5 years ago today: Fairport Convention - Expletive Delighted   My song pick 6 years ago today: The Hollies - On a Carousel My song pick 7 years ago today: ...

From: Shout ; Year: 1984; Genre: New Wave Happened to hear some songs from this record yesterday and it got me "geeking out" about Devo once again. This, the title-track from the Shout album, has a very endearing feeling to me due mostly to the synthesized horns, which reminds me a lot of the music I'd hear on my old Commodore games back in the day; good times. Anyway, this one has all the great hallmarks you'd expect from one of the nerdiest new wave bands, and they just embrace it and make it super cool.   Hear Shout on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Ebony Rhythm Band - Get Yourself Together (Smiling Phases/Sunshine of Your Love Medley)   My song pick 2 years ago today: Genesis - Harold the Barrel   My song pick 3 years ago today: The Kinks - Apeman   My song pick 4 years ago today: David Bowie - China Girl My song pick 5 years ago today: The Beatles - A Day in the Life My song pick 6 years ago today: Paris - Blue Robin My so...

From: Heavy Metal (Soundtrack) ; Year: 1981; Genre: New Wave Whilst waiting for meds at the pharmacy the other day I had this song playing in my mind. I always loved their new wave cover of the classic track; very unique.    Hear Working in a Coal Mine on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Mastodon - Steambreather   My song pick 2 years ago today: Jethro Tull - Sweet Dream My song pick 3 years ago today: AC/DC - R.I.P. (Rock in Peace) My song pick 4 years ago today: Hawkwind - Web Weaver My song pick 5 years ago today: The Chamber Brothers - I Can't Turn You Loose My song pick 6 years ago today: Iron Maiden - Aces High My song pick 7 years ago today: Fairport Convention - Chelsea Morning My song pick 8 years ago today: Jethro Tull - Son My song pick 9 years ago today: Django Reinhardt & Stéphane Grappelli (Quintette du Hot Club de France) featuring Freddy Taylor - I'se a Muggin' My song pick 10 years ago today: Styx - Li...

From: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! ; Year: 1978; Genre: New Wave Came up with this pick on the fly so to speak; been a fan of a lot of Devo's music for quite a while now, especially their early work. This is one that quite a few have probably heard at some point. Hear Uncontrollable Urge on YouTube. My song pick 1 year ago today: Pallas - Nightmare My song pick 2 years ago today: Jethro Tull - Just Trying to Be My song pick 3 years ago today: Pitchshifter - Genius My song pick 4 years ago today: Styx - Born For Adventure My song pick 5 years ago today: Ian Anderson - Heavy Metals My song pick 6 years ago today: Yes - The Ancient (Giants Under the Sun) My song pick 7 years ago today: Yes - Perpetual Change My song pick 8 years ago today: Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Mephistopheles My song pick 9 years ago today: The Gentrys - Keep On Dancing My song pick 10 years ago today: Azteca - A Night in Nazca My song pick 11 years ago today: The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper...

From: Freedom of Choice ; Year: 1980; Genre: New Wave/Synthpop I'm still taken aback at how this song, and much of Devo's music of that era for that matter, just don't sound dated at all; still fresh and relevant after all these years. I noted that I was yet to pick their biggest and most recognizable hit, so I'm remedying it today. Hear Whip It on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: Black Sabbath - After Forever My song pick two years ago today: Earth, Wind & Fire - Sing a Song My song pick three years ago today: Steeleye Span - Ancient Eyes My song pick four years ago today: Banchee - Childern of the Universe My song pick five years ago today: Muse - Unnatural Selection My song pick six years ago today: The Drifters - Under the Boardwalk My song pick seven years ago today: Yoko Takahashi - Zankoku na Tenshi no These ( A Cruel Angel's Thesis ) My song pick eight years ago today: Aphrodite's Child - Hic et Nunc My song pic...

From: Shout ; Year: 1984; Genre: New Wave/Synthpop Whilst many purists would probably curl their collective noses at this cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic, in my opinion they did a great job interpreting Are You Experienced in their unique way. Hear Are U X-perienced on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: Nena - ? (Fragezeichen) My song pick two years ago today: Rush - Mission My song pick three years ago today: Amnesty - Love Fades My song pick four years ago today: Gerry Rafferty - Days Gone Down (Still Got The Light In Your Eyes) My song pick five years ago today: Tommy James - Mirage My song pick six years ago today: The Rolling Stones - In Another Land My song pick seven years ago today: Iron Maiden - Satellite 15... The Final Frontier My song pick eight years ago today: Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) - Hold on Tight / Epilogue My song pick nine years ago today: C.W. McCall - Wolf Creek Pass My song pick ten years ago today: Eddie Rabbitt - I...

From: New Traditionalists ; Year: 1981; Genre: New Wave/Synthpop Early this morning I heard this song come on the television and it really brought back some memories. Even with the sentimentality attached to it with the time it was released for me, it still sounds pretty fresh and up to date for some reason in my opinion. Gotta love the whole nerds with attitude feeling that permeates this track; it's classic. Hear Through Being Cool on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus My song pick two years ago today: Larry Graham and Graham Central Station - G.C.S. My song pick three years ago today: Rush - Big Money My song pick four years ago today: Jethro Tull - Lifebeats/Prelude/The Silver Cord/Re-Assuring Tune My song pick five years ago today: The Doors - When the Music's Over My song pick six years ago today: Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Tank My song pick seven years ago today: Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Karn Evil 9 My s...

From: New Traditionalists ; Year: 1981; Genre: New Wave/Synthpop/Rock I haven't picked a song from Devo for many moons so it seems... I must fix that; they are a band I like too much to ignore for so long. You gotta love the masterfully written and sung tongue-in-cheek lyrics mixed with the great, complex music; one of their best for a reason. Hear Beautiful World on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: The Jimmy Castor Bunch - E-Man Boogie My song pick two years ago today: Yes - The Man You Always Wanted Me to Be My song pick three years ago today: Soundgarden - Non-State Actor My song pick four years ago today: The Mushroom Tabernacle Choir - 12 Drugs of Christmas My song pick five years ago today: David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes My song pick six years ago today: Ian Anderson - In the Moneylender's Temple My song pick seven years ago today: Dobie Grey - Drift Away My song pick eight years ago today: Lobo - Gypsy and the Midnight Ghost

I have decided to do a full theme week this week; the theme, as macabre as it is: vehicle crash songs. I have already posted some songs that would fit in this theme; two that I can think of right off the top of my head are Robert Mitchum's " The Ballad of Thunder Road " and Red Sovine's " Phantom 309. " However, there are plenty more songs of this kind in existence to fill this theme week; you would be surprised just how many if you thought about it. I figured that this light-hearted offering from Devo would be an excellent one to kick it off. The music and vocals in this song are quite upbeat and catchy. In this crash song the main character drives on the expressway in his Datsun and smacks into a semi. Here is a live performance on YouTube. +

I am picking this song today for a special reason, I will discuss further down. Devo is a bit hard to get into for some because their music is so odd and sometimes doesn't really fit with what is considered a genre. Like most Devo songs, this song sounds almost like it was released two years from now. They pay tribute to the Beatles' A Day In the Life with the line "I saw the news today o boy, a thousand stories that we've seen before." The song is about imbalances of power and those who are in power. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is the midi SID music from the Commodore version of the game on YouTube. Now for the reason that I picked it: Yesterday I found out that William Gibson's Cyberpunk book Neuromancer is being made into a movie; another one of his stories that did make it to film is Johnny Mnemonic . I remember a long time ago playing the video game adaptation of the book on my Commodore 64. What was awesome about this game was t...