2010 Countdown – #12: “Danger! High Voltage” / Electric Six

“Danger! High Voltage” / Electric Six

I have two sisters. One of them, in particular, shares a very similar humor to my own and was key in sparking many of the laughing fits I had this summer. Between viewings of Charlie the Unicorn, the George Washington rap, and Jon Lajoie singles, we rocked out to Electric Six, the whimsical Detroit group with a penchant for illuminated codpieces and scantily clad Lincolns. If there is any song that represents often oddball occurrences of the year’s hotter months, it’s “Danger! High Voltage.” This catchy ditty, with guest vocals by Jack White, is perfect for a dance party for any time of the year:

2010 Countdown – #14: “Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy” / Tommy Duncan

“Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy” / Tommy Duncan

Upon hanging with some of the elders in my family, I learned a few new stories from back in the day. One particular tale regarded my gpa’s first gig: shoe shinin’. He had a little setup in an old timey Brooklyn barbershop right in the front of the store. I was aware of his high school job as prescription slinger at the local druggist, but I had no idea of his shoeshining ways. According to legend, his setup was prime because he could work even when it was raining–this made him a foot above the rest of the kids in his hood.

The following song is a tune that was popular during his shoeshine stint: “Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy.” The whole Chattanooga scene is no stranger to music, i.e. Glenn Miller’s  “Chattanooga Choo-Choo”, and each homage is pretty catchy. “Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy” has been done countless times over again, most popularly by Red Foley in 1950, but this version by Tommy Duncan is the peppy advert revered by GPT.  Here’s the kinda country, kinda rock-n-roll ditty that kept it poppin’ from TN to BK:

2010 Countdown – #17: “Silver Bells” / Paper Ships

“Silver Bells” / Paper Ships

I remember sitting on a Brooklyn bus with one of the members of Paper Ships, Steve, back in ’05. There was this roly-poly sweaty guy listening to a cassette player, singing aloud at the top of his lungs to the DMB song coming through his headphones, swinging his body in time with the beat and making a big slobbery scene. When you get that lost in a tune, you know it’s gotta be a hit. And when you don’t care if your craziness shall be burned/scarred into the memory of multiple onlookers, then you know your muse must be great.

I have caught myself making a similar spectacle while listening to “Silver Bells.” One time, my curb-side gyrations even gained me a fellow dance partner (thanks, homeless dude). Out of the few songs Paper Ships “released” on their EP before inevitably calling it quits, “Silver Bells” was the closest thing that came to a pop song. (A future post shall highlight my favorite “serious business” track.) The bouncy guitar is just so fricking catchy that as soon as this tune was secretly sent to my inbox, I couldn’t stop listening to it. I kept envisioning the singer as some sort of floating-memory to dudes on a chain gang; this whole picture rounded out entirely by the clankity clank cowbell ending.

But truly, it’s the guitar that makes this song. After years of having conversations to the sound of Steve strumming along to some “insignificant” tune which would stick in my head for days, he finally took some of my bitching to heart and stepped out of the shadows of other musicians, and concocted something pretty awesome. He has since done a small tour in the US and Canada drumming for DePedro and continues to jam with a variety of great artists, including his sister. Keep a look out for him in the future, and in the meantime, check out his blog, particularly his hilarious live-blogs of today’s tween-dreams.

#17 – “Silver Bells” / Paper Ships