Volume 3, Track 3: Bazooka, “Look At You Now”

Driving minor-key tune about a girl who has blossomed into a beautiful woman, inspiring incoherent gawking on the part of the speaker.  Suspenseful, repetitive piano line and descending bassline. Kick drum or something going ka-THUMP. Vocals kind of fey and british-y. On the chorus, introduces a bunch of backup singers going “oooo” on on a descending pattern.  Chorus slows down, then speeds up again for a driving call-and-response part between main guy and backup singers.  The baroque-pop sound is reminiscent of The Left Banke’s “I Haven’t Got the Nerve.”  This wistful, windswept feel is, however, undermined by idiotic lyrics like “Look at you know, your hair’s so shiny/ Your eyes are brighter than a diamond ring.”  NOT the same Bazooka as the one that did “Boo On You.”  Came out on White Whale and is credited to George Tobin as producer and Randy Benjamin as singer.  Benjamin is an Indiana-born singer-songwriter; more recently he’s turned to authoring and penned the following works:

• FREE Internet: Don’t Pay for Internet – Save Hundreds of Dollars a Year by Building One of These Simple WIFI Antennas
• How To Publish Anything On Amazon’s Kindle
• Authors How to Turn Your Books into Audio Books by Randy Benjamin
• Fermilab: Forging The Keys To Hell
• How To Transfer Cassettes To CD

3 stars!

 

 

 

Volume 1, Track 24: Professor Morrison’s Lollipop, “Angela”

Debut single by an Omaha group that changed their perfectly serviceable band name, The Coachmen, to an utterly ridiculous name when they signed to White Whale and started working with Kasenetz-Katz.  This song was written by Joey Levine.  It features organ, tambourine, beautiful harmony vocals and Spanish (?) guitar, and tells the tale of a man who’s trying to hook up with a sexy woman, but keeps screwing up because he’s nervous.

And I watched every move that she made as she made her way known to me
[….]
Thought I tried to be cool, I came off like a fool and I blew it
But she knew I was sore at myself, so she wore a smile upon her face
Tell me, how could you do what you’re doing to me, Angela

I had so much to say, but no way I could say what I wanted to
Though I opened my mouth, nothing seemed to come out like I wanted it to
I fell deep in her eyes, I was hypnotized, completely undermined
Tell me, how could you do what you’re doing, Angela

[Spanish guitar break]

S&G played their tunes, but I couldn’t hear a single word they said
Tell me, how could you do what you’re dong to me, Angela The song doesn’t really have a chorus, just the repeated line “how could you,” etc. etc., at the end of ever stanza.  It has a beautiful, lilting melody that wafts over the beats, rather than emphasizing them (as in most bubblegum songs) and is reminiscent of Face to Face-era Kinks. The song’s introspection and witty self-deprecation are also reminiscent of the Kinks.  Basically, “Angela” reminds me of the Kinks, and successfully weds sing-songy bubblegum organ to a more sophisticated musical and lyrical approach.  This is a song that I never thought much about when it would come on in the car, but now that I’ve started paying attention to it, it’s obviously great!  3 stars.