Back On The Road

Introduction

In the playlist above, my friend Harper Lewis asked why I hadn't included "Road To Nowhere" by The Talking Heads. The main reason was that the song is so well-known, but it is a brilliant song. Then I looked at the CDs on my desk and remembered I had missed an absolutely brilliant Tom Waits song.

So this is a follow-up "Road" playlist that kicks off with those two songs.

The Talking Heads - "Road To Nowhere" from "Little Creatures"

I love the almost gospel intro to this and the fact that you have an accordion helping drive the relentless beat with David Byrne running to wherever he might be going, and he is still touring, one of Scotland's finest exports, and the rest of the band are no slouches either.

I first heard the band with the single "Love → Building on Fire", and I loved that they used an "→" as part of the title. With my band The Bok we covered "Psycho Killer", except we sang it in French, but unfortunately, we never recorded it. Here are some of the demos on Soundcloud. Not most of these are almost fifty years old:

Tom Waits - "Road To Peace" from "Brawlers/Orphans"

This is such a brilliant indictment of the situation in the world, although focusing on the Middle East. Often, people do bad things because they believe they are right, and I think the quote from the famous physicist Steven Weinberg illustrates much of what the song touches.

Lindsay Buckingham - “Holiday Road” from "National Lampoon's Vacation"

I regard Lindsay Buckingham as a musical genius, and although this is a lot lighter than the Tom Waits offering, it is still a favourite of mine. I think I bought it when it came out, and have a copy on some CD compilation somewhere.

This is a 1983 single composed and recorded for the 1983 film National Lampoon's Vacation. It was also used in the film's sequels. Though it only hit number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during its original release, it has since become one of Buckingham's best known songs.

Tenacious D - "The Road" from their eponymous debut album

While Tenacious D (that's Jack Black and Kyle Gass) may be too over the top for some, and this one is very sweary, so don't listen if you disapprove of the word F**K, but this is an excellent slice of rock and is perfect for this list.

The video image may give you some idea of what to expect.

Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band - "Yellow Brick Road" from "Safe As Milk"

This is quite a fun workout from Don Van Vliet (who was a mentor of Polly Jean Harvey) and his band, although it does not stretch his eight octave vocal range.

While I love all of Captain Beefheart's work, if this tempts you, tread carefully, but you may find some unexpected treasures.

As the good Captain says:

"A carrot is as close as a rabbit gets to a diamond"

But not in this song.

Junior Walker & the All Stars - “I’m A Road Runner” from "Road Runner"

I am not sure if this was included on the video album cover, but this is a great Holland-Dozier-Holland slice of Motown with some brilliant saxophone from Mr Walker.

George Harrison - "Any Road" from "Brainwashed"

I'll close this playlist with this excellent song from what I think was George Harrison's final official release. For this, he took a line from Lewis Carroll's exchange between the Cheshire Cat and Alice that I used in one of my first Vocal stories:

THank you for reading and I hope you found something else to enjoy.