Show #161 September 2, 2017

Today is all about Matilda!


Matilda- Suzy and Los Quattro Faster and Louder! 
Tomorrow Belongs To You- Gary Valentine s/t
When I Stumble- Honeychain Crushed 
Psychology Today- Aunt Helen Nephews Were Never Like This 
The Rest Of My Life- Cheap Trick We're All Alright! 
*Tomorrow- The Well Wishers Comes And Goes 
*Tomorrow- The Three O'Clock Sixteen Tambourines 
*Tomorrow- Radio City Class of '77 
^Tomorrow Night- Atomic Rooster Tomorrow Night 
Tomorrow Night- Shoes Present Tense
Tomorrow Night- The Go Instant Reaction 
Trick- Matthew Sweet Tomorrow Forever 
Back For Good- Kurt Baker Play It Cool 
So Easy- The Wellingtons End Of The Summer 
*Tomorrow- The Cardigans Life 
*Tomorrow- Kiss Unmasked 
*Tomorrow- Morrissey Tomorrow 
This Is The World Of The Theater- The New Pornographers Whiteout Conditions 
Don't Take Your Baby Downtown- Redd Kross Hot Issue 
My Date- The Aristocrats s/t
*Maybe Tomorrow- Goldenhorse Maybe Tomorrow 
*Maybe Tomorrow- The Iveys The Very Best of Badfinger 
*Maybe Tomorrow- The Chords This Is What They Want
>Tomorrow- Strawberry Alarm Clock Wake Up...It's Tomorrow 
Tomorrow- Research Turtles Research Turtles 
Tomorrow- James Tomorrow 
Never Wanted To Know- Bash and Pop Anything Could Happen 
Without My Sight- Zeitgeist Translate Slowly 
No Tomorrow- The Dictators Blood Brothers 
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow- The Ramones Rocket To Russia

^Power Pop Peak:  #11 6/2/1971 UK Singles Chart

*SacroSet[s]:  Tomorrow Songs

>Power Pop Prototype:  1968

I haven't read him in a while, but over the years I've grown to appreciate the genius of Chuck Palahniuk.  He has a fearless, twisted way of looking at the world that I really enjoy- even as it sometimes turns my stomach.  I was thinking about Chuck as I put this show together, specifically one of my favorite quotes from Invisible Monsters:


When did the future switch from being a promise to being a threat?

I used this quote as the basis of a speech I gave at my son's 8th grade graduation back in 2010, which is included in the blog post for Show #35.  I have no doubt that Scottish band We Were Promised Jet Packs share the sentiment.  (While I don't care much for their music, I give their name an A+.)  At some point in my lifetime the future went from being a dream to a nightmare.  It's common in some circles to blame everything on the media these days, yet I've always thought of the media as mirror of our society rather than some Pied Piper gleefully leading us to our doom.  

It's interesting how few of the "Tomorrow" songs I played tonight are genuinely hopeful about the future.  Songs like "Tomorrow" by The Three O'Clock are ambivalent:

Remember a time when you were near
And things were clear
But will you be tomorrow?
Remember a sound that you knew once
Oh and I knew once
But will you be tomorrow?

Then there's "Maybe Tomorrow" by The Iveys, a precursor to Badfinger:
Maybe tomorrow, I will love again
I'll never know until I've looked into her eyes
Maybe tomorrow, I will love again
I'll never know until I've seen her once or twice

Even reliably catchy Swedes The Cardigans' song "Tomorrow" has a wistful quality:

Tomorrow, she won't feel half of this
Tomorrow morning is a sugar kiss
Tomorrow, heavenly no sorrow
she will lose gravity

No surprise, reliably mopey Morrissey's "Tomorrow" is a total downer:
Tomorrow
Will it really come?
And if it does come
Will I still be human?
All I ask of you is one thing that you never do 

Boob Bird is the word!

And there is something unseemly going on in this week's Power Pop Prototype, Atomic Rooster's "Tomorrow Night:" 

When I wake up in your bed,
I can still hear what you said.
Like a bad dream I can't fight,
Tomorrow Night.
Am I lying here next to you?
Am I thinking I need to
Really love you? Do it right,
Tomorrow Night.

(One of the cool things about the features on ALL KINDSA GIRLS is they get me listening to bands I would never hear otherwise- case in point, early 70's British prog-rock group Atomic Rooster.  Check out that picture sleeve!)

On the grim but optimistic front there is tonight's Power Pop Prototype, "Tomorrow" by Strawberry Alarm Clock:

Tomorrow

Things won't be the same
Tomorrow
Life would be a different game

But right now I am with you, and
Together we can make it through

(I have no idea what's going on with the tequila bottle on the single's picture sleeve, but the cover of the Wake Up...It's Tomorrow album at the top of this post has become a new favorite!)

James' "Tomorrow" espouses a similar optimism:
Now your grip's too strong
Can't catch love with a net or a gun
Gotta keep faith that your path will change
Gotta keep faith that your love will change tomorrow
I'm just out of your range Tomorrow
All your suffering's in vain Tomorrow

Even better is the sentiment expressed in the Goldenhorse song "Maybe Tomorrow:"

All of your sorrow
Maybe tomorrow
Will fade away in the air

Leave it to Paul Stanley to give us a 100% positive take on "Tomorrow."  This is from the album Unmasked, which I ignored when it was released in 1980 but thanks to this song I'm going to give another listen:
I didn't know just what to do, I couldn't seem to take my eyes off you
You know I wanted just to take you home, but that's not your style
And tomorrow, we're gonna fall in love, fall in love
Tomorrow, we're going to fall in love, fall in love, tomorrow, tomorrow

Now that's more like it!  Here's wishing you all a Paul Stanley tomorrow.

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ALL KINDSA GIRLS #161