Originally written on November 28, 2006.

“Girls, Girls, Girls” – Mötley Crüe
From Girls, Girls, Girls

I have previously mentioned my undying love for all things hair metal, and Mötley Crüe were the unquestioned kings of the hair. They rocked, they rolled, they barely survived their own hedonism. Even their power ballads are pretty good. Who doesn’t get all teary-eyed when “Home Sweet Home” plays over the loudspeakers?

I am particularly fond of this song, or rather its accompanying video. As the title implies, it was all about the ladies, and more specifically the scantily clad ladies. For a young teenage boy, there isn’t anything better than scantily clad ladies.

I can remember sitting with my cousin at my grandma’s house watching MTV in the back bedroom. “Girls, Girls Girls” was in heavy rotation. Every time the video would come on, my cousin would turn the volume way down – I guess because he was afraid someone would hear and chastise our viewing tastes – and we would sit watching the gyrations in silence.

It was a good time.

This gives me an odd remembrance of the song, though. I remember the girls, but it is one of the few Crüe hits where I don’t really know the music all that well. Too much mute I guess.

“Dream a Little Dream of Me” – The Mamas and the Papas
From the Papas and the Mamas

This song will forever remind me of the film that bears its name. An odd, dreamy movie starring the Coreys. It was probably the first non-mainstream, weird, art film I had ever seen. It showed me how the film could be different and interesting and not follow the same standard plot lines. I’ve been a fan of weird films ever since.

The song is nothing but loveliness. Mama Cass’ big beautiful voice singing nothing but beauty. It is a song I used to listen to and dream little dreams of my own. It’s the sort of song I used to play and wonder when someone would dream of me. It’s a song I played at my wedding reception. A song I now enjoy with my wife.

Fat Babies” – Lyle Lovett
From I Love Everybody

Lyle Lovett is the sort of artist who can write nonsense, humor, and poetry. Sometimes all within the same song. Though I Love Everybody is far from his best album (The Road To Ensenada gets that award) it is the first album of his I ever heard.

In college a good friend of mine had this giant tape collection filled with all sorts of artists I had never heard of. I’d often sit in his dorm room and pick out tapes at random just to find something interesting. I heard my first Grateful Dead bootlegs in that room as well as John Prine, John Mccutcheon, and Willie Nelson. Well, ok I had heard Willie before, but it was in that room that we began our love affair.

Lyle was first heard by my ears between those walls as well, and it was this album that made me a fan. It’s not exactly country as it is filled with big jazzy horns and a few blues riffs. But it’s not jazz or blues or rock and roll either. These days you’d probably call it Americana, but I didn’t know what the crap that was back then. What I did know was that it was different, and exactly the kind of acoustic sound I had been looking for.

“Fat Babies” is a silly little nonsensical song on an album full of them. Lyles singing about things he hates which include hippies, cornbread, and fat babies. But then he turns around and likes a girl simply because she likes him and she don’t like much. None of it makes much sense, but it doesn’t have to. It’s just fun and silly and a nice piece of music. Sometimes that’s all a song needs to be.

“Train in Vain” – The Clash
From London Calling

I spent a long time declaring I didn’t like the Clash even though I’d never really heard many of their songs. I knew “Rock the Casbah” of course and liked it too. But the few other songs I had heard all had this annoying reggae jive going for it and did nothing to make me want more. A local radio guy is a big fan and periodically plays Joe Strummer solo stuff, but it too seemed to have this faux reggae feel and I just don’t like faux reggae.

I kept hearing how great London Calling was and eventually decided to have myself a listen. I got the disk and expected to hate it and was already writing a scathing review in my head. It never got out of my head because, as it turned out, I loved the disk. There’s a few reggae beats in there, but it really encompasses so many genres that I hardly noticed.

Turns out there were also a few songs I already knew and enjoyed but didn’t know it was by the Clash. “Trains in Vain” is one of those songs, and it s a good one.

“San Andreas Fault” – Natalie Merchant
From Tigerlily

I’ve always been a very casual 10,000 Maniacs fan. I have a few of their albums, and whenever I play them, I enjoy them. But they never made what I’d call a stand-out album and for the most part, their music sits in the back of my collection, only surfacing periodically.

However, Natalie Merchant’s first solo album, Tigerlily, has always been one of my favorites. I can’t really pinpoint exactly why I like it so much. There are only a couple of songs that I know well or would say are great songs. The rest of them kind of blend together and I couldn’t tell you their names even though I’ve listened to the disk numerous times.

It’s all very low-key, and you wouldn’t be too far off to say it’s mostly kind of dull. Natalie has this exotic, lulling voice that washes over me and sends me to a nice kind of place. It’s really nice background music – the kind of thing to play while reading a book or relaxing with some hot chocolate and a warm fire.

This is my favorite song on the album and it starts off with this marvelous, cooing “ooohs” from Natalie that lay me down and fluff my pillow. It sets a perfect mood for a relaxing evening, morning, or anytime in between.