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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3258 Posts |
 Posted - 01/15/2022 : 13:37:16
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Another great one Jason, thanks for the time.
I don't listen to this album much but I'll be sure to spin it this week.
The Beatles have always been irrelevant to me so it took me a while before I figured out that was a cover.
Great article as always. |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3258 Posts |
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2022 : 14:07:34
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| There are a few interviews in which he cites "Savoy Truffle" as one of his favorites. George Harrison's "White Album" song about chocolate and how it rots your teeth. I've always loved The Beatles and I enjoy how they wrote so many songs about silly things. John Lennon would see a magazine cover and then write a song about it. And that rubbed off on Frank. His first two solo albums have songs about mustaches and Pong and malls. He's not above silly topics, but without making them novelty songs. It's cool. And "Wild Honey Pie" is TOTALLY meaningless, which made it a perfect song for the Pixies to take on. |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3258 Posts |
Posted - 01/18/2022 : 09:03:11
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| My favorite Beatles song is Dig a Pony. Can't deny the talent |
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3258 Posts |
Posted - 02/05/2022 : 06:47:39
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| Great stuff about a great album! Thanks Jason |
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yarbles
= Cult of Ray =
USA
637 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2022 : 02:53:17
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| Hey I'm just coming across what you're doing here Jason, excited to start at the beginning and read all of your thoughts! |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3258 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2022 : 12:13:17
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Definitely worth your time Yarbles.
"Highly recommended"
Looking forward to the next one Jason. Is it DITS? |
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2022 : 14:48:01
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Thanks a lot. The next one is "Oddballs".
My (incomplete) outline looks like this
15 - Oddballs
16 - Dog in the Sand
17 - Complete B-sides (Pixies)
18 - Pixies (the Purple Tape disc)
19 - Black Letter Days
20 - Devil's Workshop
21 - Show Me Your Tears
22 - Frank Black Francis
23 - Honeycomb
24 - One More Road for the Hit
25 - Snake Oil
26 - Fast Man Raider Man
27 - Christmass
28 - 93-03 (Frank Black Best of)
29 - Bluefinger
... to be continued...
That's my memory (with a little help from Discogs) of the chronological order of release.
Still deciding on whether I'm going to do the Pixies DVDs. There are four of them! I probably will cover them. For the challenge of it. If so, that will change the order above.
One curveball item that WILL definitely get an entry is the THE GOOD INN, the book by Black Francis and Josh Frank. That came out in 2014. |
Edited by - Jason on 03/03/2022 14:54:45 |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3258 Posts |
Posted - 03/07/2022 : 18:13:55
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Great Jason, looking forward to it!
Man, Oddballs is such a good album. That's his fifteenth album!? Holy jumping Joe! |
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
Posted - 03/08/2022 : 21:56:54
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I love huge discographies like this. There's so much to talk about. And it's going to take me years.
Counting the Pixies disc, he has FIVE official collections of B-sides and non-album stuff, which is kinda crazy. |
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3258 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2022 : 21:45:08
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Love this Oddballs entry Jason, thank you for your work.
I know Oddballs was such a joy for so many FBF fans, and it has only gotten better and more cherished with age.
Count me among those who adore Announcement. It’s on my top ten FBF songs.
And I’m with you on Surf Epic. That this man can just create that sound is bewildering.
As I’ve been following your series I spend extra time listening to the album you cover, so this week it will be plenty of Oddballs.
Thanks again Jason |
Edited by - Bedbug on 03/20/2022 21:46:18 |
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
Posted - 03/24/2022 : 01:44:25
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Thanks. Yes, "Oddballs" did me a great service when it came out. I had (and still have) that "Men in Black" single, but I didn't have the limited "Cult of Ray" with the bonus songs. One store in Dallas had the import, I remember, but they wanted something like $35 for it, which was a CRAZY amount for a CD to me in 1996. And I don't think I ever even saw the other single with the cover songs for B-sides. So it was nice to finally have easy access to that stuff.
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Troubles A Foot
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1044 Posts |
Posted - 03/24/2022 : 16:55:55
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quote:
It originally appeared on a compilation formally titled Songs in the Key of X: Music From and Inspired by The X-Files from 1996.
I have never watched The X-Files. I know that it’s about paranormal investigators. Aliens. Ghosts. Conspiracy.
All of those subjects were Frank Black’s hot topics at the time, but the song he gave them had nothing to do with that.
Dude the reason Man of Steel is maybe my favorite Frank Black song ever is because of how it's so totally about X-Files and evokes the show (my favorite show) so well. It's such a Mulder song. He nailed it. He nailed exactly what the show feels like and that character too.
There's an episode of X-Files where much of the run time is devoted to Mulder driving on the highway and chasing a truck that just might have an alien stashed inside of it ("it's time to believe...") I'm rewatching the series now (for the millionth time.) My memory expanded that drive...it's actually a smaller part of the hour than I thought. But the way it resonated in my mind for years and years...Mulder driving at all hours of the night...chasing that truck ("I'm a chaser...")...hoping he'll find something life-changing inside of it ("Say it's nothing but skies and I'll be a lonely guy...") That's Man Of Steel to me. That song was on a loop in my head during my visit to Roswell last year. Is there a place? |
Edited by - Troubles A Foot on 03/24/2022 17:00:43 |
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
Posted - 03/25/2022 : 12:42:06
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Songs can be interepreted in all sorts of ways and that's a good thing. I'm not the last word on any of these songs and I wouldn't want anyone to consider me to be that.
I have a comments section for anyone who wants to add anything. I approve any comment that's not from a spam bot. Different views and factual corrections are welcome. |
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Troubles A Foot
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1044 Posts |
Posted - 03/25/2022 : 22:15:15
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I wasn't saying you're wrong, I was just talking about why the song is special to me. I also thought since you've never seen X-Files, some background on the context may be helpful :)
The other context is that soundtrack, Songs in the Key of X, is one of the best soundtracks ever made. They really tried hard to make all the songs feel like X-Files. Not in any obvious lyrical way (though abstract talk of UFOs and mystery men permeate through the disc), but just the atmosphere and the feel. There's a supernatural moodiness throughout.
Frank's song is maybe the best one on the soundtrack (I'm partial to Soul Coughing's Unmarked Helicopters too), but it's surrounded by tons of great similar-minded tunes and that's always going to be the context of that song to me, as opposed to its appearance on Oddballs. I lived with that soundtrack for maybe 10 years before getting into Frank proper and getting Oddballs! |
Edited by - Troubles A Foot on 03/26/2022 08:22:23 |
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Stevio10
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
1133 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2022 : 09:49:45
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Great reading these Jason, takes me back to seeing those Catholics shows what is now many years ago.
I hadn't listened to Man of Steel in ages, what a great outro that song has. Sometimes I hear him saying 'there is a face' rather than 'place'. I know it's my ears but I like to think it could be a reference to the Marsist and the face.
Love the X Files too Troubles, such a great show. The creator Chris Carter was / is a big FB fan and named the main character of his other show Millennium after him (which I never really got into despite Lance Henrikson playing the lead). Was there a crossover episode? It's been a while.
I also remember an X Files episode with Doolittle Airfield being mentioned. Anyway, great soundtrack too, I remember the scene with Nick Cave's Red Right Hand, the show was way ahead of its time. Great guest actors too - Jack Black and Bruce Campbell episodes really stand out.
Don't mean to hijack the thread, great read Jason looking forward to DITS. |
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Troubles A Foot
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1044 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2022 : 11:35:49
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quote:
Love the X Files too Troubles, such a great show. The creator Chris Carter was / is a big FB fan and named the main character of his other show Millennium after him (which I never really got into despite Lance Henrikson playing the lead). Was there a crossover episode? It's been a while.
I also do not want to hijack the thread, but being that it is on topic, yeah, the first way I even knew the name "Frank Black" was as the lead character in Millennium.
There's two crossovers with X-Files. One is the episode of X-Files titled Millennium that Frank (the character) appears in (and has quite an ending!!!)
The other is the genius writer Darin Morgan's episode of Millennium Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense, which uses the same character Jose Chung from the infamous X-Files episode Jose Chung's From Outer Space.
I highly recommend Millennium season 2, when Carter left the show to work on the X-Files movie, and it was taken over by fantastic X-Files writers Glen Morgan and James Wong. They got Darin to write a few brilliant hours, and the show got weirder and more supernatural and surreal.
Then Carter came back in season 3, hated everything they did and undid it all, ruining the show :) |
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Stevio10
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
1133 Posts |
Posted - 03/28/2022 : 02:26:51
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Awesome, I'll have to give Millennium a proper watch. Went through the X Files again a few years ago, the Jose Chung's From Outer Space is a classic. Was Jose Chung's character and book based on Whitley Strieber and Communion? I'm not sure if I read that or made it up haha
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
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Troubles A Foot
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1044 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2022 : 09:12:46
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That was great, Jason.
I unfortunately can no longer listen to the title track of this album after my dog died, and so I basically never put the whole album on anymore. Oh well. |
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benji
> Teenager of the Year <
New Zealand
3430 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2022 : 21:17:43
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That was another awesome read Jason. Thanks a lot.
Just off to put the album on the stereo...
all i can say, thank god for polio! brian |
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2022 : 16:14:40
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| Thanks. One thing that was I struck by listening to "Dog in the Sand" 40 billion times while writing about it is how vivid it sounds. It's a beautiful recording. I know they recorded it at Sound City, a top-shelf pro studio where a bunch of classic albums (like "Nevermind" and "Rumours") were made. If the upcoming vinyl release was done right, I bet it sounds amazing. |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3258 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2022 : 17:43:39
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| Great read again Jason, thanks for the time and efforts. One of my favorite albums. Title track goes a lot deeper than canines. |
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Stevio10
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
1133 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2022 : 06:18:22
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Really good read Jason. It just occurred to me Dog In The Sand was the last Frank album that had space as one of its main themes (until Indie Cindy).
I've Seen Your Picture more relevant than ever - sounds like something Elon Musk would do when he has colonies on Mars. His picture all over the place. |
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3258 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2022 : 03:01:50
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Can’t wait Jason, thanks for writing this one.
I first had the Pixies B sides on a blank cassette tape with no track listing and no idea which songs were which. A friend dubbed it for me off a bunch of CDs. It was still a better “album” than anything tons of other bands have ever done. |
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Bedbug
> Teenager of the Year <
3258 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2022 : 03:09:43
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Also, the B-sides showcase how much Frank involved other members of the band, having Kim sing this one and Dave song that one. Very cool.
And I’d love to hear other people’s nominations on this, but for me the greatest band based on its throwaways is far and away Ween. The infraweb doesn’t even contain half of it, and yet there is more amazing stuff on YouTube that they never bothered releasing than Prince or Led Zeppelin or whoever ever dreamed of producing. Long live B sides for sure |
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Troubles A Foot
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1044 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2022 : 09:55:07
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quote:
Originally posted by Bedbug
Also, the B-sides showcase how much Frank involved other members of the band, having Kim sing this one and Dave song that one. Very cool.
And I’d love to hear other people’s nominations on this, but for me the greatest band based on its throwaways is far and away Ween. The infraweb doesn’t even contain half of it, and yet there is more amazing stuff on YouTube that they never bothered releasing than Prince or Led Zeppelin or whoever ever dreamed of producing. Long live B sides for sure
Yeah. I am a kind of new fan to Ween but I was shocked how good dozens and dozens of songs left off albums were.
The other bands I'd nominate for this phenomena is:
They Might Be Giants: seemingly hundreds of fan-favorite songs never released or as b-sides. Their dial-a-song service, where you call and hear songs over the phone, contained tons of great songs that never showed up anywhere else. My podcast has done a few episodes all about these. They've also had rare, homeless songs on their own podcast, and various other weird outlets. It's now come to the point that the past several TMBG albums has come with a bonus album of songs like this, stuff cooked up for the album but left off, kind of a parallel universe album. And it is now also at the point that there's genuinely no discernible difference in quality for these songs, and they're often better than the album picks.
Morrissey: like all my favorite Morrissey songs are rare/demos/unreleased/b-sides. A few years back he put out an album that was kind of OK, but there was this rare bonus disc with 6 songs that just blew me away (the Beneath The Eyrie phenomenon.) His b-sides compilation My Early Burglary Years may be my favorite Morrissey "album." Then there's demos never ever released but somehow bootlegged by fans. "Born To Hang" is a favorite.
and XTC: Andy Partridge released a 9-disc set of songs left off of XTC albums. They are almost all brilliant. It's mindblowing. He's been holding off on any sort of solo album since XTC ended 20 years ago. I can only assume he's got 100s of songs gathering dust.
As for the Pixies, my favorite b-side was not mentioned: Manta Ray. Not sure how this didn't make an album. It's incredible. |
Edited by - Troubles A Foot on 06/12/2022 10:03:33 |
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2022 : 07:29:09
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I think the Cure was a good B-sides band. Prince had a lot of good ones that run the whole gamut between "shoulda been on the album" songs and oddball moments. Prince also liked to make the B-side relate to the A-side in a strange way that you might not notice at first.
I don't collect vinyl LPs much anymore, but I still love 45s. It's a great format, maybe the best one ever. I love to collect songs and part of the appeal is that sometimes odd relationship between the A-side and the B-side. |
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Troubles A Foot
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1044 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2022 : 11:07:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Jason
Prince also liked to make the B-side relate to the A-side in a strange way that you might not notice at first.
I don't collect vinyl LPs much anymore, but I still love 45s. It's a great format, maybe the best one ever. I love to collect songs and part of the appeal is that sometimes odd relationship between the A-side and the B-side.
Not to sound like I'm promoting myself, but this is something important to me as well, and I did the same thing on the latest single I put out. I made all of the b-sides thematically linked, even having some of them blend into each other (which is a pain in the ass to figure out technically), and including a literal sequel song to the A-Side.
https://troublesafoot.bandcamp.com/album/woke-up-dark-single
It was so much fun I want to keep doing that with more "singles" from the album I made, just as a great way to put out some more music and make these little specific releases that all tie together. |
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Stevio10
* Dog in the Sand *
United Kingdom
1133 Posts |
Posted - 06/14/2022 : 05:18:11
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Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have some very good b sides. B-sides and Rarities Volume 1 has a lot of great material and covers. Volume 2 has recently been released but yet to check it out, though I much prefer the Mick Harvey era.
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *
1446 Posts |
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The FRANK BLACK-O-RAMA! series
