This definitely falls short of my husband's recording engineering standards, but we are talking about 40 songs here. So, live one-track recordings are the name of the game. That means there might be some flaws. I might cringe a little listening to occasional voice croaks and little stumbles on guitar. Being a non-professional, though, and in the spirit of documenting reality, I'm going to keep the tracks with a couple stumbles. Major screw-ups will get a re-do; I do have some pride.
And now the tracks!
1978 - One Way or Another - Blondie
This is a fun creepy song that I like a lot. It is full of barre chords and my hands are aching by the time I get to the end (more practice and exercises would probably help, but you know, life). Anyway, it is worth it. My research tells me Debbie Harry has sung this song as recently as last year. She is 72. I also found out she went to Centenary College in Hackettstown, NJ. WHAT? (I went to high school a few miles away from there and my first jobs were in the fast food strip of Hackettstown.) Hell yeah!
1979 - (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding - Elvis Costello (Nick Lowe)
So Elvis Costello recorded and released this song in 1979, but I found out that it was actually written by Nick Lowe, and the way he plays is much more chill and soulful. I tried playing this song multiple ways at multiple speeds and finally decided to go with the faster punchier version. I like the earnestness of songs like this, but have a hard time writing them myself without sounding like a schmaltzy fool.
1980 - Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
So a lot of people know that Joy Division were these post-punk pioneers that were maybe on the verge of being the biggest band in the world and then Ian Curtis, the singer, committed suicide. The remaining members formed New Order, who became even more successful, adding some electronic music to the mix. This song is straightforward garage depression rock, I guess, if that's a thing. Their recording has a repeating keyboard part plus grungy guitars and I am missing that cool combo. So you should listen to the original if you haven't.
1981 - Talk of the Town - The Pretenders
Chrissy Hynde is my homegirl. If I have learned anything from this project so far, it is that I love her and every incarnation of The Pretenders. I would maybe form a The Pretenders cover band if I thought I could pull off the effortless cool swagger. Anyway, this is one of their songs, and I like it. I played it on electric in an attempt to capture the warm sound of the recording, but yeah whatever I played it and it was fun.
All right all right all right. I am now 10% complete with my goal. The next installment will have 80's pop front and center plus I'll cover some gritty legends.
Peace.
