After a taking few tentative steps toward independence with “Stop! In the Name of Love,” The Supremes retreat back into the arms of a man who may not be worth the trouble. But the narrator of “Back in My Arms Again” isn’t begging for her man not to leave her. She’s broken it off with [...]
Archive for November, 2011
137) The Supremes – “Back in My Arms Again”
Posted in 06, 1965, tagged girl groups, holland-dozier-holland, motown, the supremes on November 28, 2011 | 5 Comments »
136) The Beach Boys – “Help Me, Rhonda”
Posted in 08, 1965, tagged brian wilson, the beach boys on November 20, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Since we last checked in with Brian Wilson, his ambition has expanded beyond arranging intricate vocal harmonies over more-or-less standard surf-pop to constructing majestic pop symphonies to rival the Wall of Sound. “Help Me, Ronda” (as it was then spelled) first appeared on the 1965 album The Beach Boys Today! as an overstudied emulation of [...]
135) The Beatles – “Ticket to Ride”
Posted in 09, 1965, tagged british invasion, the beatles on November 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Desolation and self-flagellation gnawed at the edges of Beatles for Sale, but it wasn’t until “Ticket to Ride” that the band tried crafting an arrangement to match the darkness of the subject matter. And certainly, compared with A Hard Day’s Night‘s thematically similar “I’ll Cry Instead” (John Lennon gets rejected, vacillates between despair and contempt), [...]
134) Herman’s Hermits – “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter”
Posted in 07, 1965, tagged british invasion, herman's hermits on November 1, 2011 | 4 Comments »
Herman’s Hermits were sort of the kid brothers of the British Invasion, and, as such, were often treated as a band to be mocked or manipulated. Singer Peter Noone was 16 when the group had its first hit, half a decade or so younger than most other beat groups and a full 11 years younger [...]
