SCD Mixtape 19: "Livin' Just Enough for the City..." (Cities and Urban Life)

[Trollheart]

Looks like I'm last again, am I? Oh well: having too much fun here in the German capital, you know how it goes. Believe me, this will have been worth waiting for. Or not.

Song: Empire State of Mind
Artist: Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys
Nationality: American
Source: 11th album The Blueprint 3
Year: 2009
Genre: Soul/Hip-hop
Submitted by: Tristan_geoff
Familiarity: Have heard of (!) Jay-Z and heard one or two of Alicia Keys' albums
Comments: I probably stand as the only person on the planet not to have heard a single Jay-Z song. Despite my attempt to somewhat broaden my horizons via my Trollheart Listens to Every Album from 2017 thread, he just didn't come up. I know of him, of course, but have never heard anything by him. Alicia Keys I know, having listened to a few albums of hers, and having enjoyed her star turn on the hit drama Empire (she used another name, natch). I do like the way the song's title nods back both to Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" possibly and also of course is a pun on the world's most famous tall building. I love how Jay-Z (can I call you Jay? No? Mister Zed? Oh. Zee, you say? How quaint) namechecks both Sinatra and his most famous song, which interestingly ties us into another choice here, the one from Psy-Fi. Alicia's keys (sorry) are the perfect backing for his rap and her backing vocal is sweet as Hell. Listening to it I can hear references to 9/11, LeBron James, yellow cabs, The Naked City- this man knows how to put in the key (again, sorry) points about the Big Apple. Love this. Great start to the mixtape.
Rating:


Song: Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer
Artist: Morphine
Nationality: American
Source: 5th album Night
Year: 2000
Genre: Alternative rock/Jazz rock
Submitted by: Violet
Familiarity: Zero
Comments: These guys I know squat about. The first thing I think is the bass opening reminds me of Nirvana, then the brass comes in and the dark laconic vocal almost seems at odds with the bright, peppy melody, the singer seeming to me an amalgam of Springsteen, Geldof, Cave and Eldritch. Bit of Ferry there too. Like this a lot too. Going well so far. The brass really makes the track. It's sleazy but with class.
Rating:


Song: The City Never Sleeps at Night
Artist: Nancy Sinatra
Nationality: American
Source: B-side of single "These Boots Were Made for Walking"
Year: 1965
Genre: Pop/Country Pop
Submitted by: Psy-Fi
Familiarity: I know two Nancy songs, one of which is with her dad. Neither are this,
Comments: Nancy's owl fella was forever confirming that New York is "the city that never sleeps", and here she reaffirms this, although in fairness maybe New Yorkers sleep in the day, like vampires, and lawyers, as she seems to go out of her way to qualify the sentiment. I would hope so, as otherwise a city of permanently awake people might result in a whole lot of accidents; how long can you go without sleep before you step out into the path of an onrushing taxicab I wonder? Like most of us, I know Nancy for her big hit "These Boots Were Made for Walking", perhaps another redundant phrase; I mean, what else are you going to make boots for? Her music would not be my particular cup of hemlock, but you have to give her credit if nothing else for her pedigree. Not many girls can say their dad was Ol' Blue Eyes himself. But can she make it on her own merits, is the question? Well I must say it sounds very wholesome n a sort of bubblegum pop meets mariachi way. It's okay but I'd have to say a bit bland. Not really my thing now.
Rating:


Song: Cities in Dust
Artist: Siouxsie and the Banshees
Nationality: English
Source: 7th album Tinderbox
Year: 1986
Genre: Gothic rock/Post-Punk
Submitted by: TheBg3
Familiarity: I know maybe two of her songs, and again, this ain't one of them,
Comments: I have vague memories of having heard Siouxsie singing "Hanging" and possibly "Hong Kong Gardens", but never paid much attention to her. In fact, until I saw her name written down I perhaps obviously assumed she spelled it the normal way, as Susie, and it's interesting to see she sort of appropriated a Native American term for her nom-de-plume, as it were, but nobody raised a ruckus. Maybe that's because they were afraid she'd stab them with a six-inch long sharpened fingernail! There's a nice kind of oriental feel about the keys, and of course Siouxsie's voice would not be mistaken for that of anyone else. For a while there in the 1980s there was a call for that kind of darker, drawling, almost more masculine voice in female singers, with Toyah, Hazel O'Connor and Lene Lovich all benefiting from this particular delivery, but Siouxsie outlasted them all, and is surely the Queen of Punk. There's a lot of dark menace about this, but in an almost understated, "so what" kind of way: not arrogant, not dismissive, but somewhere in between, and certainly not something you can ignore.
Rating:


Song: Low Rent Paradise
Artist: The Owners
Nationality: American
Source: Debut s/t album
Year: 2022
Genre: Punk rock/Power pop
Submitted by: Buckeye Randy
Familiarity: Zero
Comments: Another band about whom I know nothing, and since their debut only came out in 2022, perhaps not that surprising. Good to see Buckeye back in the fold, though, and his choices are usually pretty stellar. This is no exception, with a big powerful growling guitar that would not be out of place in many metal bands, and a vocalist who sounds a little like Ric Ocasek of The Cars, to be heard at the end of this tape. A song apparently decrying the ease with which a home can be foreclosed upon, and a life implodes, it has a unchy energy about it, but slightly more laid back for a punk-style track. Interesting that we have two punk acts, as it were, following each other. No complaints about this. Another hit, Mr. B!
Rating:


Song: Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
Artist: They Might Be Giants
Nationality: American
Source: 3rd album Flood
Year: 1990
Genre: Indie Pop/Power Pop
Submitted by: Innerspaceboy
Familiarity: I know this song

Comments: Time for a history lesson. You may, or may not know that Constantinople was named by and for the Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great, he being the one who, on the eve of his attempt to take the Holy City and install himself as emperor - that's how they did it back then, when words like insurrection, stolen election and even democracy were unknown concepts - saw a sign from God in the sky. "Put my symbol on your armour," says God, or so the story goes, "and I'll see ye right." And so he did. Constantine's men painted the symbol on their shields and kicked the arse of his rival. Once in power, the new emperor may have been nudged by God, who may or may not have hissed "Yo! Consts! It's me, God!" to which the Great One may or may not have said "Which one? We have so many, it's hard to keep up!" Whereupon a slightly more impatient divine being may have snapped "Not one of them false gods you lads have worshipped for yonks! I'm the real deal, the only god, all those others are just imitators. So now the real God stands up, and I did for you, so you owe me." Realising the truth of this, and that this god, unlike some of their own less reliable ones, had delivered, Constantine may have said "Oh yeah, right. I remember you. Of course. Sign in the sky, paint it on shields, win the battle. All coming back to me now. So what can I do for you?"

Well, to cut a slightly rambling long story short, God may have told him to sort out his lads, these Christians who insisted on following his son like Biblical age groupies. The Romans had of course been less than nice to Christians up to now, what with all the burning, throwing to the lions and the odd round of crucifixions, and God weren't too pleased about that. Especially the crucifixions, which seemed like Rome was giving Him the finger. Had his Only Begotten Son died for nothing? So once installed, Constantine sent forth this message: "Dudes! What is with all the killing and persecuting of these Christians? They're okay. So just leave them alone in future. In fact, you can all just jolly well join them and worship their god. No, that's not a suggestion: it's the law now, as per the Edict of Milan (313 AD). Anyone a problem with that? What's that? The old gods? Well I'm sure they'll find employment somewhere. Smart lads, they are: one a smith, another a warrior - um, there's a chap in there likes the sea. They won't starve. What? No, you can't just keep Mercury too! I don't care if he's only a little one!"

When those nasty uncouth barbarians from the Germanic forests began eyeing up Rome and noticed that internal division and corruption was tearing apart the power centre of the World's Greatest Empire (™) they grinned "We'll have a bit of that!" Consequently, Constantine did what any brave ruler would do, and legged it to Byzantium, where he set up his new court, and made its capital, you guessed it, Constantinople. This, then, became the dog's bollocks of the Middle Ages, until in 1453 it finally fell to the Ottoman Turks, who then renamed the area, well, Turkey.

And so, by my usual torturously circuitous route, to the song. Although ISB correctly notes this was originally recorded by The Four Lads in 1953, technically it goes back further than that, as it clearly is modelled melodically and lyrically on the 1929 Irvin Berlin song "Puttin' on the Ritz". It's a fun song and even nods to the reasons why Constantinople changed its name, as they sing "that's nobody's business but the Turks." Rather interestingly, it seems the change of name only happened as recently as 1930. Now, aren't you glad I told you all that? The song? Oh right! The song! How could I forget the song? Well I love it and it gets top rating. Really clever upbeat tune that at first glance seems frivolous but is in fact a musical history lesson, and a much easier one to digest than my long-winded diatribe!
Rating:


Song: Ghost City
Artist: Thomas Azier
Nationality: Dutch
Source: Debut album Hylas
Year: 2014
Genre: Indietronica/Electropop
Submitted by: amishfurniture
Familiarity: Zero
Comments: I know nothing about this guy, but I appreciate that feeling when you can showcase your own country (okay, in her case, adopted country) in the mixtape. I know how excited I was to feature Rory Gallagher a while back, and was anxious people liked him. This I like from the first buzzy synth beats and then the haunting voice of Thomas complements the music perfectly, putting me in mind of Depeche Mode. Only, you know, good. Oh get over yourselves! I tried to like them but after six albums I realised I didn't. The singles are still great but don't subject me to one of their albums. This, on the other hand, I could listen to a lot more of. Also reminds me of the softer work of Morten Harkett with a-ha, especially "October" and "The Soft Rains of April." Like when he goes into the higher register, and are those vocoders? Sweet.
Rating:


Song: City Sickness
Artist: Tindersticks
Nationality: English
Source: Debut s/t album
Year: 1993
Genre: Chamber Pop/Indie Pop
Submitted by: Lisnaholic
Familiarity: Think I may have heard of them?
Comments: Heard of them, yes possibly. Heard anything by them, no, In fact, I may be mixing them up with Godsticks. Or Styx. Or a popular dating app. Seems very low in the mix when it starts, the vocal reminds me of Gene Pitney, though not really. Also Bryan Ferry. Yeah, him again. The melody is nice, but yeah, either the production is terrible or this video is cut very low as I can hardly hear him and he seems to be muttering rather than singing the song. Decent though. I can see the chamber pop in it; kind of similar to some of the work of The DIvine Comedy. Cello or violin is lovely and adds a lot to the song.
Rating: (I won't subtract half a star for the low volume, in case it's a problem with the video and not the actual recording)


Song: Cities on Flame with Rock'n'Roll
Artist: Blue Oyster Cult
Nationality: American
Source: Debut self-titled album
Year: 1972
Genre: Hard rock/Heavy metal
Submitted by: Punished Venom Lexi
Familiarity: I know BOC but I don't know this song
Comments: Never been that into BOC but who doesn't love "Don't Fear the Reaper"? That's about the extent of my knowledge of the band though, apart from "Godzilla". As a side note, isn't it odd how we've now had three debut albums, one after the other? Pedant mode engaged: I doubt that's grammatically correct though. You can have cities ON FIRE, but not IN FLAME. The only time the two words are used together is if you're Johnny Storm, and even the Human Torch says "Flame on!" So it should, to be proper English, be "Cities in flame" or "Cities on fire," Pedant mode cancelled. I doubt they care; this is, after all, a band who stuck an umlaut on the O in Oyster and then (rather like English speed metal merchants Motorhead) admitted it was just there because it looked cool. Big dirty guitar to kick it off, very seventies, very of its time, and the vocal sounds slightly mechanised, has a kind of I don't know, Texas boogie feel to it. Do I have a clue what I'm talking about? Do I ever? Yeah it's good but sort of underlines my feelings about the Blue ones: other than that song, I've yet to hear anything by them that really makes me sit up and take notice. Okay I take that back: that southern boogie guitar break near the end earns it another half star.
Rating:


Song: Summer in the City
Artist: The Lovin' Spoonful
Nationality: American
Source: 4th album Hums of The Lovin' Spoonful
Year: 1966
Genre: Folk rock/Pop rock
Submitted by: Mr. Mindy Shhon
Familiarity: I know this song; it's a real sixties summer classic
Comments: A song in which you can almost feel the New York sidewalk burn your feet as you walk, the sun dazzling you from rows of polished windows in high towers on either side, fire hydrants popping in the heat and spraying out fountains of cold water, a welcome to anyone but the City Water Board. I love how every single line rhymes - city/gritty/pity - and how the lines are delivered rapid-fire until the chorus when it all slows down as evening rolls in, bringing with it the cool of the setting sun and the night breeze. Classic, and could only receive top marks.
Rating:


Song: Heartbeat City
Artist: The Cars
Nationality: American
Source: 5th album Heartbeat City
Year: 1984
Genre: New wave/Synthpop
Submitted by: Trollheart
Familiarity: Love this album; big fan of the band
Comments: One of my favourite Cars albums, with nary a bad track to be found on it. The voice of Ric Ocasek was always distinctive, with its clipped, almost at times mechanical sound, and it works really well on this song. This remains, to my mind, one of their finest, and certainly most commercially successful works, and the closing and title track sums up what the band were all about: great keyboard riffs, quirky vocals and interesting melodies. They sadly only had two more albums after this, and with the passing of Ocasek, who features on most of their hits such as "My Best Friend's Girl" and "You Might Think", and Benjamin Orr, whose cooler, softer croon will be familiar to you from their massive hit from this album, "Drive", as well as "Just What I needed", The Cars finally pulled into their parking space for the last time, turned off the ignition and walked away slowly over the horizon towards whatever awaited them next. The noise electric finally did stop, and we won't see or hear their like again.

[Trollheart]

Okay while we wait for the man who suggested the theme, @Lisnaholic to post his comments (Yay! I wasn't last after all!) let's throw in our "I would also have accepted..." videos. Here are mine.

"City Streets" - Carole King

"It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City" - Bruce Springsteen

"Raintown" - Deacon Blue

"Night in the City" - ELO

"C-I-T-Y" - John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band

"Dancing in the City" - Marshall, Hain

[Buckeye Randy]

So many popped into my head.  "LA Woman", "My Woman From Tokyo", "Detroit Rock City", "Cleveland Rocks", "Big City Nights" and plenty others.  I resisted the low hanging fruit.

The first serious contender that sprung to mind was one that I figured was more about escaping a city with beaucoup train references.  I do love this song but passed on it.

I considered this one because it's so great in a live setting but I thought it was a bit cliche.  I'll save this for when the topic is singers who faced criminal charges.

Another song great in a live setting but I'll save it for when we have the topic 'groupie sex'.

[Buckeye Randy]

"Night in the City" - ELO

A solid song, Well Done!  The last good album by ELO despite their next three albums going to #1.

[Trollheart]

GMTA! I had "City of New Orleans" as an also-track for the transport theme, though I chose Willie Nelson's version.

[Violet]

This oldie charted at #11 (66), I think. Probably well heard. Written by Ed Cobb about the Charles River and Boston Harbor pollution,  his being mugged near the river and the curfews of the times.

Dirty Water by The Standells

[Buckeye Randy]

^ Love that song and the band is worth checking out for those that don't know them.  If nothing else check out their version of "Hey Joe".

Well Done!

[TheBig3]

[Trollheart]

Now why the hell didn't I think of that? Anyway, while we wait for his Liship to join us, if everyone is ready to go again I'm hitting the new thread; it's just a day early really (we seem to be completing these within a week of the mixtape being posted, so I think we'll keep that as the norm, to keep interest going. Anyone who's late can of course post and then follow us on to  the next one) so have a look above and start thinking of songs to put in. As soon as I have all your submissions I'll post the mixtape. And thanks again to everyone for making this such a success!

[Lisnaholic]

1. Empire State of Mind By Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys (Suggested by Tristan_geoff)
Not a genre I like much, and imo Jay-Z devotes too much time to bragging about how successful he is: to me that's just bad manners, on or off a record. The girl's voice was a relief, but "concrete jungle where dreams are made of" is an ungrammatical expression of a hackneyed idea, so is also pretty irritating. Plus point for Jay-Z, though: he packs in loads of NYC-specific details.
2 stars

2. Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer By Morphine (Suggested by Violet)
Hey, if I'd ´ve thought of it, I might've chosen this song myself, Violet! This is a cool song about cool people going to cool parties, so it reminded me of Lou Reed's take on city life. I used to think Morphine had lost their way after the wonderful Cure For Pain, but this track proves me wrong. Great sax lines, great lyrics, great everything. 
5 stars

3. The City Never Sleeps at Night By Nancy Sinatra (Suggested by Psy-Fi)
Bright, shiny '60s sound (especially those horns!). There are some clever lyrics ("red cars blue cars, payment-overdue cars"), so I enjoyed this song, but won't be rushing off to re-assess NS's repertoire, I'm afraid. Characteristic choice from Psy-Fi, our resident expert on all things retro!
3.5 stars

4. Cities in Dust By Siouxsie and the Banshees (Suggested by TheBig3)
I like how Siouxsie's voice cuts through the intriguing, complex instrumentation and creates a sinister vibe. Is it about Pompeii ? Nobody wants their cities to lie in dust, but the lyrics, with their lack of sympathy, seem to end up reveling in disaster instead, which is not a message I'm comfortable with, tbh.
3.5 stars

5. Low Rent Paradise By The Owners (Suggested by Buckeye Randy)
It took me a couple of listens to appreciate this punchy little song, with its catchy "Move along, move along" line. I liked the unusual, but real, grumble about city life, and because of all its down-to-earth details I would give this song, (along with Jay-Z's) the mixtape's Most On-Topic Song Award. 
4 stars

6, Istanbul (Not Constantinople) By They Might Be Giants (Suggested by Innerspaceboy)
I first listened to this song without watching the video, so I was caught off-guard when it took a comedic turn. Two and a half breathless minutes of  fun in the clever music and words. 
3.5 stars

7. Ghost City By Thomas Azier (Suggested by amishfurniture)
A very welcome taste of electronica, I was at first unimpressed with the singer, until his voice jumps into life @ one minute in, with a beautiful soaring cry. This is a song I'll be replaying.
4 stars

8. City Sickness by Tindersticks (Suggested by Lisnaholic)
Like TH, vocalist Stuart Staples reminds me of Bryan Ferry, with a voice that isn't particularly strong but carries a plenty nuance. But the star of this song are the strings, especially when they pause and jump back in on the line, "It's just that before...".

9 Cities on Flame with Rock'n'Roll by Blue Oyster Cult (Suggested by Punished Venom Lexi)
Is that a slight echo-effect on the vocal track? Very effective, as are the biting guitar-solo breaks. I liked this more in second half, when the band put aside the rather bludgeoning stadium-rock riff and start pulling some rhythmic surprises, so nice outro. I might explore a bit more of BOC,who I am unfamiliar with.
4 stars

10. Summer in the City by The Lovin' Spoonful (Suggested by Mr. Mindy Shhon)
I bought the album "Hums of..." when my album collection was still in single digits. That means (in a way that's hard to imagine today), I just totally played it into the ground, and even today can't really appreciate this song in a balanced way. I did notice a nice bit at 1:10 with street noises and piano, but, through no fault of LS or Mindy, I can't honestly give this song many stars today.
2.5 stars

11. Heartbeat City by The Cars (Suggested by Trollheart)
I haven't heard much of The Cars beyond "Who's gonna drive you home", so I was interested to hear this track. Pretty good, and reminded me of Steve Winwood's solo albums of the 80s. This song has the same kind of polished production and consummate musicianship. I liked the insistent rhythm, but as with SW, I'm not often in the mood for this kind of sound, where perfectionism has perhaps squeezed out inspiration and spontaneity.
4 stars

[Lisnaholic]

One reason that I chose "Cities" as a topic is because I think of myself as a born-and-bred urban person who has no desire at all to live in a rural area, so this comment really warmed my heart:-

10. Summer in the City by The Lovin' Spoonful (Suggested by Mr. Mindy Shhon) - Love the shit out of this song. Always have. When I was a kids I grew up lonely in the woods, and I ran away to the city as soon as I could. When I was a kid, songs like this made me daydream about how good my life would be in apartment buildings, riding the bus, meeting all walks of humanity, seeing weird shit, and being exposed to all these cultural things. And I was right. The city is the closest I've ever been to god, and I wouldn't change it for the world. Plus I love this haunting piano.

A good city is a glittering kaleidoscope of moods, styles, and possibilities, so I was very interested to see both what you guys all thought of cities, and also what your chosen songs would indicate: how musicians respond to cities too. So thanks as always to everyone who has contributed to this mixtape.

I've had a busy week and arrived just as the party is winding down, but I've read through everyone's comments. Two things surprised me (or perhaps it's four things): how well-known and how popular were the songs by Jay-Z and They Might Be Giants. The latter, I'd never heard of, and for the former, perhaps Trollheart would be kind enough to move over a little  so that I can stand next to him:-

Comments: I probably stand as the only person on the planet not to have heard a single Jay-Z song.

And thanks, Lexi, for identifying a dissatisfaction that I felt with Nancy Sinatra's song:-

3. The City Never Sleeps at Night By Nancy Sinatra (Suggested by Psy-Fi)
This was pleasant, though it didn't really pop out at me. it felt like it was building to a bigger chorus but it just kinda bumped along.
2.5/5

Usually, the chorus lifts up a song and provides a hook line or two, but I also felt with this song that the verses turned out to be the main dish.
 

.... They sadly only had two more albums after this, and with the passing of Ocasek, who features on most of their hits such as "My Best Friend's Girl" and "You Might Think", and Benjamin Orr, whose cooler, softer croon will be familiar to you from their massive hit from this album, "Drive", as well as "Just What I needed", The Cars finally pulled into their parking space for the last time, turned off the ignition and walked away slowly over the horizon towards whatever awaited them next. The noise electric finally did stop, and we won't see or hear their like again.

^ 
Thanks as always for your entertaining reviews, TH, and in this case for reminding me of "Just What I needed", a song that I forgot I knew.

[Lisnaholic]

I haven't checked out the alternative mix-tape songs yet, but applaud Buckeye's mention of LA Woman, which is a great evocation of city life ("cops in cars, the topless bars, never saw a woman so alone").

My own also-rans would include:-
Waterloo Sunset (Kinks)
At The Chime of a City Clock (Nick Drake)
Baker Street (Gerry Raffety)
Do You Know the Way To San Jose (Dionne Warwick)
The Entry of Christ Into Liverpool (Liverpool Scene)
Big City (Spacemen 3)
Old Main Drag (Pogues)
Concrete and Clay (Unit 4 Plus 2)

...and of course, Chelsea Morning: there are just so many songs in which, to quote Joni Mitchell, "the traffic wrote the words".

[Trollheart]

Not to mention her "Big Yellow Taxi!"

Hey, you're always welcome to stand next to me, Lisna! Nobody I'd rather stand in a "Mexican Standoff" with!

[Cyber Solutions]

song sent

[Cyber Solutions]

Lol wrong thread