Time for some music from Moughton!

Yes, it's time for British rock bands doing songs from female Motown groups.

First the original:

The Marvellettes - Please Mister Postman

Then the classic remake:

The Beatles - Please Mister Postman

Another original:

Martha and the Vandellas - Heat Wave

And a smoking live cover rendition:

The Who - Heat Wave

I do have to say, the Who was one of the profoundly ugly bands of the British Invasion. I mean, they look like they could win contests for homeliness. But then, most of my favourite bands are somewhat along those lines. I suppose they have to work harder musically. The band Yes certainly won't win any awards along those lines, although Rick Wakeman could probably have been in a shampoo commercial with his long straight blonde hair. Actually, that would have been funny...start with the classic shampoo advertising cliche of cascading long hair falling in slow motion, then pan around to Wakeman's stubbly bearded face. Might not sell product, though. There goes my brilliant marketing idea of the week.

Another good example of the above would be "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", by the Temptations and later the Stones.

To round up this random music-focused blog entry, I rediscovered an old band of my teen years this week, listening to a CD driving to-and-from the hospital, containing both Weezer's eponymous debut album and their second release, Pinkerton. I never cared much for their later stuff, but the first two albums were good stuff...basic garage band rock, with a simple appeal. They are sort of the AC/DC of my generation, a band that churns out simple yet appealing guitar rock, and basically releases the same album every few years. Nothing complex, nothing masterful, but solid. As a beginning guitarist in the mid-90s they were a heavy influence, although now I have a hard time moving back to that model of guitar playing.