For my last “Theme Party” show, my theme was “Sequels.” (I finally started putting my setlists in the RSS feed for my podcast.) Most of the songs were sequels, but I included some borderline material, including songs that could’ve been more accurately called “answer songs” or just “based on another source.” (I probably won’t do an answer song show, as WFMU has already put together a spazzy collection of them.) One of these borderline songs I played was “Beechwood 4-5789” by the Marvelettes, to which “634-5789 (Soulsville U.S.A.)” is related.
When I spent a semester at the Biosphere 2 Center in 2000, I bought a Marvelettes greatest hits CD at a store in Tucson. It was one of those “I just wanted to buy something” moments, as I only knew “Please, Mr. Postman” and wasn’t particularly eyeing anything on the CD. I was also just stocking up on material to play on WBAR once I returned to New York.
And I didn’t really listen to the CD until I returned to New York. During that summer, I had a lunchtime show on WBAR, and I got a surprise request. (Surprise, because I figured no one was listening to me.) I was playing a Shirelles song, so someone called in and asked me if I had any Marvelettes. At first she asked for “The Hunter Gets Captured By the Game,” which wasn’t on the CD, but then she asked for “Beechwood 4-5789,” which I played obligingly.
It wasn’t an instantaneous thing, but soon after I got really attached to the song. Aside from being a really catchy tune, there’s something about the simplicity and sense of beginning in the song that I really like. No rushing off to get married or jump in the sack just yet. No claiming love at first sight — just a phone number exchange after figuring out you like each other and want to see each other again. It’s beautiful.
Of course, if you want some lovin’, you can call 634-5789.
6 July 2008 – 9:00 PM
Posted in Music | Tags: Beechwood 4-5789, Marvelettes, My Favorite Songs of All Time, podcast, radio, theme party, WBAR, WHFR | No Comments »
Months after I said I would write about “my favorite songs of all time,” here I go with my first post. I’m starting in no particular order, of course.
In 1995-1996, I used to listen to “Flipside Fifties,” a program on Bellevue Community College radio that played a mix of 50s and 60s rock ‘n’ roll and R&B. I was influenced by the music I heard on this program to eventually host a similar program in college, on WBAR. One night, I heard a song called “I’ll Bring It Home to You” by Carla Thomas (although I didn’t know it at the time), which was an “answer song” to Sam Cooke’s “Bring It on Home to Me.” I was so jazzed when I heard this song. I already loved Sam’s version and hearing Carla’s version was like hearing that someone else loved the same music, too. (I usually didn’t share the same musical tastes as my peers, so I had to make connections somewhere.)
Around 1998-1999, I thought about “I’ll Bring It Home to You,” having only heard it that one time, and wondered who sang the song, since I never caught who was the singer, nor was I sure what was the actual song title. In those days, I didn’t automatically consult the Internet. I did things the old-fashioned way. I went to the Tower Records at 4th and Broadway in lower Manhattan and went through every CD in the Oldies section. It took me about 3 hours. I looked through every CD song list, looking for something that would pop out to me. Nothing did, so the next day I went to the Tower Records at 66th and Broadway and went through their Oldies section. Many of the CDs I had already seen the day before, so I was able to look through them quicker. It took about an hour, but I got to Carla Thomas and saw that she had a song called “I’ll Bring It Home to You” and I thought, “That’s gotta be it!” And it was.
Point of this story? Well, that in some way my obsession with “I’ll Bring It Home to You” was really my way of expressing how much I love the song “Bring It on Home to Me.” The song evokes such visceral emotions of love, longing, and desperation in less than three minutes. I love the piano intro. The studio version is great, but after I heard the live version on One Night Stand: Sam Cooke Live From the Harlem Square Club, 1963, I felt transformed. I’m not a big fan of studio-released live recordings, but this album is so visual. When Sam tells the crowd to twist their handkerchiefs around during “Twistin’ the Night Away” or gives anti-domestic violence advice during “It’s All Right/For Sentimental Reasons,” I feel like I’m there in the audience. When the crowd sings “Yeah” during “Bring It on Home to Me,” I feel it brought home to me.
If you’re interested in more answer songs, WFMU has a spazzy collection of them, including a downloadable version of “I’ll Bring It Home to You.”
22 April 2008 – 1:00 AM
Posted in Music | Tags: Carla Thomas, Flipside Fifties, My Favorite Songs of All Time, Sam Cooke | No Comments »
