Tag: Nancy Sinatra

MUSIQUE BOUTIQUE: Ann Wilson, Nancy & Lee, fanclubwallet, Stoney & Meatloaf

Welcome to Audiofemme’s record review column, Musique Boutique, written by music journo vet Gillian G. Gaar. The last Monday of each month, Musique Boutique offers a cross-section of noteworthy reissues and new releases guaranteed to perk up your ears.

Ann Wilson has one of the most recognizable, and impressive, voices in rock, whether she’s fronting her own band Heart or going solo. Fierce Bliss (Silver Lining Music) is a solo outing, and sees her making one of her own dreams come true; recording for the album began at the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Alabama (where such artists as Elton John, Cher, Willie Nelson, and Millie Jackson have recorded).

There are some well-chosen covers; a beautiful version of Queen’s “Love of My Life” (sharing the vocal with Vince Gill), while tackling Eurythmics’ “Missionary Man” is an obvious pick for a voice as powerful as Wilson’s. And her own co-written numbers crackle with a spirited energy. “Greed” turns a critical eye on a culture where however much you consume it’s not enough; “A Moment in Heaven” takes on the entertainment industry (“Hollywood be thy name”), where the next big thing becomes yesterday’s news all too soon. The chunky rock riffs of the ’70s are still Wilson’s musical calling card, and she also loves a deep dive into the blues, as you can hear on the searing “Angel’s Blues.” Wilson is currently on US/Canadian tour through June 24, with a performance at FloydFest22 in Floyd, Virginia, set for July 30.

Nancy Sinatra’s career got a huge boost when she recorded Lee Hazlewood’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” (just check out the groovy promo film). But then things started to get really interesting. Reissue label Light in the Attic launched their Nancy Sinatra Archival Series in 2021 with the release of the compilation Nancy Sinatra: Start Walkin’ 1965-1976, followed by a reissue of her first album, Boots. Now comes the reissue of her first collaborative album with Hazlewood, Nancy & Lee.

It was a pairing Sinatra jokingly describes in the album’s liner notes as a “beauty and the beast” match up, with Hazlewood’s stentorian deep baritone and Sinatra’s cool been-there-done-that delivery. In the ethereal “Some Velvet Morning,” she embodies the spirit of the mythological doomed princess Phaedra, as Hazlewood mournfully sings of how she brought him to ruin. There’s a haunting rendition of “Elusive Dreams,” about a couple continually searching for those greener pastures and never finding them. It’s an album of sophisticated adult pop, and this reissue comes with two excellent bonus tracks, a jazzy cover of Mickey & Sylvia’s “Love Is Strange,” and an astonishing remake of the Kinks’ “Tired of Waiting for You.” Look for a reissue of the follow up, Nancy & Lee Again, coming later this year.

You Have Got to Be Kidding Me (AWAL) is the debut album by fanclubwallet, the music project from Ottawa-based Hannah Judge (who’s also an illustrator). It’s primarily a solo outing, with Judge writing most of the songs, and producer Michael Watson also doing some co-writing and playing drums; the two split up the other instruments (guitar, bass, synths) between them.

This is a break up album that evinces a strong sense of self-awareness. “That I Won’t Do” captures the confusion of contradictions (wanting to talk, not wanting to talk), nicely summed up in the lines “Maybe I can split myself in two/Maybe there’s a me that hasn’t met you.” “Toast” is a song about cocooning, holing up until you feel it’s safe to go outside again (which could possibly be never). “Solid Ground” is about getting back to stability, and the title track is a study in communication breakdown. Everything’s set to a crisp, clean indie rock beat, a sound that’s as bracing as fresh air on a brisk walk.

In 1970, Shaun “Stoney” Murphy and Michael Aday, aka Meatloaf (which he’d later split into two names, Meat Loaf), were in a Detroit production of the rock musical Hair, where their singing capabilities captured the attention of Motown Records. The two were signed by the label, and Meatloaf & Stoney was released in 1971. The album’s since been reissued in various configurations, with Real Gone Music/Second Disc Records now fleshing out the original 10-track album to two CD’s worth of songs on Everything Under the Sun: The Motown Recordings, featuring the original album and plenty of bonus tracks.

Both singers have commanding voices (Phillips received acclaim in Hair for her powerful rendition of “Easy to Be Hard”), and their playful jousting in the rousing “What You See Is What You Get” took them into the R&B Top 40. The songs are an eclectic mix of gospel-rock (“[I’d Love to Be] As Heavy as Jesus”), breezy pop (“The Way You Do the Things You Do”) and funky blues (“Game of Love”). The second disc has Murphy’s solo tracks, including her fine 1973 single “Let Me Come Down Easy,” the Bobbie Gentry-styled country rock “Mo Jo Hannah,” and an expressive cover of Janis Joplin’s “A Woman Left Lonely.” A fun record to rediscover.

DJing Means Rolling with Whatever the Night Brings, Even Tech Failures

In Audiofemme’s monthly column, The Beat Goes On, DJ Liz O. takes readers inside the booths of the dance clubs, bars and assorted L.A. events where she has been DJing for over 20 years. 

It’s after 1 a.m. on what is now, technically, Saturday morning, but the Friday night vibes are still swelling inside the club. We’re less than ten seconds into “These Boots Are Made for Walking.” The crowd has just caught the groove of the song’s iconic bassline. They are almost ready to lip-sync alongside Nancy Sinatra; in fact, I can see a face or two preparing to do just that. If the scene transpires as it normally does, at least a few people will begin to shimmy when the tambourine kicks in about a fraction of a second from now. 

But, right at the moment when all the anticipation built by the bass is set to release into a flurry of groovy moves, Rekordbox crashes. The music stops and so does the dancing. Now all eyes are on the very confused DJ in front of the dance floor. That DJ, dear reader, is me. 

People have a lot of opinions about what makes a good DJ. Some say that it’s all about mixing skills. Others will argue that song selection is most important. Most will add that it has something to do with reading the room, even though they aren’t exactly sure what that means. While those are all excellent skills to have at your disposal, what truly makes a DJ good is an ability to roll with whatever the night may bring. 

There will be times, probably a lot of them, when you botch a mix or drop a track that clears the floor. There will be nights when you’re exhausted or sore or otherwise feeling like crap. And there will be many times when the gear fails you. But, as Sonny and Cher once sang, the beat goes on. Or, at least it will once you can get the music playing again. 

Okay, maybe all eyes aren’t on me when the music stops. Maybe it’s just one or two people glancing in my direction, while everyone else goes back to ordering drinks or talking about whatever it is that people gab about between midnight and last call. But, in that split second when I realize that I’m listening to chatter and not a 1960s dance jam, I fear that I just killed the party. 

The thing about DJing is that it’s never just about the music. There are a lot of components involved in getting that music out through the speakers and each one of them is a potential point of failure. A significant part of your job, particularly in the bars and small clubs where the DJ is also, by default, the sound tech, is making sure that all of the components function properly.

Along your DJ journey, you’ll pick up a few tricks to help get you through any situation. If you play vinyl, at some point, you’ll learn how to turn a cocktail napkin into a slipmat  when there are none in the booth or tape a penny to the shell of a needle cartridge to add more weight to a wonky tone arm. You’ll build up a kit of everything that you’ve ever noticed was missing at the venue: extra slipmats and needles, dust rags, flashlights, extra cables. Digital technology only slightly lightens that load. I still often walk into gigs with an assortment of cables, because you never know if the person who told you to bring an RCA meant for you to bring an RCA to XLR. 

As a DJ, you learn to be prepared for anything. But, at the same time, you learn that, despite all this preparation, some new malfunction will hit when you’re least expecting it, like when the dance floor is at its peak and you’ve just dropped what is ordinarily one of the proven club hits. You’ll be embarrassed, mortified even, but, if experience has taught you anything, it’s that you have to let go of that feeling immediately. Clear your head, tell yourself that you are not DJ Vibe Killer— not tonight, anyway— and bring back the beat. 

The dead air lasts for either a minute or an eternity—I’m not exactly keeping track of time—before Rekordbox relaunches and I drop “Boots” back into the queue as quickly as possible. The crowd fills the floor again for Nancy Sinatra and stays there for 1977 Plastic Bertrand number “Ça Plane Pour Moi.” A few songs later, I drop Wet Leg’s hit “Chaise Longue” and see my friend, who must have just finished her shift working door, run out to dance. After the Pixies, Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz and M.I.A., I wind things down with “Bad Cover Version” and someone approaches the booth, gushing about how it’s one of the best Pulp songs. I agree.

During the closer, a remix of Jeanette’s classic “Por Que Te Vas,” one person starts singing along right in front of the booth and two others come up and ask who did the remix. The night ends on a high, as if that tech failure never happened.

In the end, it’s not the flaws that people remember. When the night becomes a blur, what will stand out are brief clips of dancing with our friends to favorite songs, of hearing something that we now need to find for our own collections, all of which replay in our mind like Instagram stories. If you can provide enough moments like that, you’ve done your job, whether or not your gear behaves.

Catch Liz O. on June 10 and June 17 at L.A.’s long-running indie night Club Underground, located at Chinatown’s Grand Star Jazz Club and on June 20 at Little Tokyo bar The Mermaid for Mermaider Mayhem. For ongoing updates on gigs, sign up for Liz’s newsletter.

PLAYING DETROIT: Prude Boys “The Outlaw”

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When the sandy shores of a zombie beach party meet the salty lawlessness of a vintage wild west shoot-out, you would likely find yourself galloping within the Tarantino-lite dreamworld crafted by the latest tracks from garage pop threesome Prude Boys.

The Outlaw, though only two tracks long, make for a grungy Lee Hazelwood x Nancy Sinatra reboot while garnering imagery of seduction and escape with their uniquely refined and playful nostalgia. The opening riff from the titled track is reminiscent of The Dandy Warhols lick from “You Were the Last High” but in Prude Boys uptempo context feels urgent and authentic surrounded by vocalist Caroline Myrick’s haunted warble. Wildly expressive without much deviation, “The Outlaw” is genre-less and toggles between what feels like fantasy cinema and curious reality like a chase through the Hollywood backlots and sound stages, dipping in and out of backdrops of ghost towns and real life coffee shops.

“You Plague My Dreams” follows “The Outlaw” with a jutting rock tale of a lingering lover. Tormented by wanting to stay but the unfair crimes of still hanging around even while deep into the R.E.M cycle, our antagonists find ways to make resentment soft and make guitars sound as though they are slamming doors. Though a little less obvious in its cinematic tonality than the EP’s opener, “You Plague My Dreams” finds itself in the closing credits territory which is apropos for a band with a knack for seeing the bigger picture.

Saddle up and get rowdy with the latest from Prude Boys below:

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