Malvina Reynolds "Little Boxes"

We were going to write a song. It seemed about time.

I lived in a suite/dorm at UMass, with several guys who were actual musicians (as opposed to me, who wished he could play something). At least they let me sing.

We'd perfected a number of cover tunes (or, more accurately, beat them to death and had grown bored with our repertoire), and we were ready to try our hand at writing a song.

We were pitching ideas.

"We should write a song about a box," said Brett.

While Billy was the most proficient player, and Kurt has impeccable musical taste, it was Brett---the one who'd been playing guitar for only a few months---who had this loopy, brilliant and quirky creativity.

"What do you mean, a box?"

"You know. Like a cardboard box. On the side of the road. We should write a song about that."

I don't know what Kurt or Billy were thinking, because I don't think they responded either. I didn't say it out loud, but I thought it was the stupidest idea I'd ever heard.

As we let the conversation drift to the next idea, I thought to myself, Could there be a dumber subject to create a more boring song, than "a box"?

Tonight at 9pm, may I present to you an hour's worth of brilliant folks who had the same dumb idea.

On our free-form hour called The Hot Seat, listen in for a hour of songs about boxes by Tom Waits, The Decemberists, The Blues Brothers and Nirvana, as well as multiple versions of Malvina Reynolds "Little Boxes."

And let the record show that after passing up the box idea, our brain trust settled on the utterly original, non-stupid-or-trite topic of writing a song about breaking up with a girl.

Genius!

The Hot Seat airs at 9pm ET. Stream it at mvyradio.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Barenaked Ladies "Shoe Box"

On Monday night I'm hosting our free-form hour show called The Hot Seat.

My theme: Boxes.

It seems silly, but I bet if you think about it, you'll come up with a dozen awesome songs about boxes.

Think about it.

Or tune in, Monday at 9pm!


Hear the song on Youtube.

Reverend Horton Heat "Spend A Night In The Box"

On Monday night I'm hosting our free-form hour show called The Hot Seat. Every week someone different (staff members, outside guests, the occasional celebrity) has a full hour to do . . . whatever. So it can be pretty random.

I challenged myself to come up with a theme that sounds boring, but would turn out to be really fun and here's what I picked:

Boxes.

Songs about boxes.

And while that sounds dumb and boring, I've got a pretty fun hour planned.

So I'll be playing this Reverend Horton Heat song, and the song in yesterday's post, plus a few more surprises.

Join me Monday at 9pm ET on mvyradio.


Hear the song on Youtube.

R.E.M. "Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight"

Over a couple of beers, I tried to explain "Interpolation" to two of my friends, to see if they could help me with a few examples that I could use on The Hot Seat.

Halfway through the conversation, I realized that, while I knew what it was when I heard it, I didn't have the language to properly explain it.

So maybe I should start there:

"Interpolation refers to using a melody, or portions of a melody (often with modified lyrics) from a previously recorded song, but replaying the melody instead of sampling it."

So samples don't count, because they use the original song. Just mentioning another song in the lyrics doesn't count. And we're not talking about a strict cover version either.

The best example I could come up with is "Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight," which uses the melody of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," as part of the song. But it's not a cover or a reworking of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." It's just got Michael Stipe singing that one part of the old song, incorporated into the new one.

Tonight I'm doing a Hot Seat on "Interpolation" and I'll be playing the original song, followed by a song that incorporates an element of the original tune. Hear it tonight at 9pm ET on the stream, or find it later in the archives.

And while I have your attention about this song, check out this old article about the origins of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." When I originally read it years ago, I thought it was one of the most interesting pieces of Rock journalism I'd ever read.

You'll never hear that song the same way again.

Neko Case "Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis"

Gasp! . . . Neko! . . . gaa! . . . covering . . . uhhh! . . . Waits! . . . . . . dying! . . . ascending to heaven! . . . ahhhhhhh!





The existence of this cut motivated me to do tomorrow night's Hot Seat (Monday at 9pm on mvyradio), focusing on downbeat Christmas songs. Enjoy!