October Playlist: Girls

Ah Stevie, all the girls wanted to be you.

There is a sweet but sad story of Stevie Nicks and Joe Walsh, who collaborated on a special project for a four year old who was dying of cancer. She had wistfully asked, "do you think anyone will write a song about me?"

Of course angel baby.

A P.S. to this story is the little girl was bothered that the public drinking fountain was too tall for her to drink from comfortably, and after she passed, Joe had tiny drinking fountains installed in parks throughout her hometown in her honor.

As a music lover, there is something so deeply moving (or confusing, see Feb angst!) about someone writing a song for you. As ordinary citizens of the world, it's also cool when one already exists, like the Allman Brothers Band's "Melissa." This seems like a phenomena strictly for girls, because outside of Toni Basil's "Mickey," I can't come up with a single song dedicated to a boy. That may be a research challenge for another time...

So for all those sparkly-eyed gals in the back row that captured the imagination of the heavy-lidded bass players converting shyness to badassery, this one's for you.

Girl, The Beatles: Another month, another list, another Beatles tune. Whatever, it's my blog. A complex marriage of Lennon/McCartney building a complex mystery girl. What is so effective is what is NOT sung - the sighs, the gasps, sucking in air. Those exclamations tell things that words can't. Bonus: the backing track where George sings "tit-tit-tit-tit" - naughty!

Valleri, The Monkees: I was trying to hold out against listing another Monkees song, but whatever, it's my blog. Besides, I have tickets to see the Monkees in Chicago this November - with Michael Nesmith. The lyrics are simple, and sung by my least favorite Monkee Davy. But the real highlight of the song is the guitar work, the Spanish guitar bridge and the electrc guitar riff. I love Peter Tork in his checkered shirt singing the wrong notes at the top of his lungs in the romp from the show.

My Sharona, The Knack: Back in '79, I like to think I was a precocious kid with a taste in music that defied my age. What nine year old grooves to Steely Dan? I also think I had an ear for what was going to be a big hit, and went nuts the first time I heard My Sharona, begging for then getting the vinyl for my 10th birthday - and I still have it. The song ended up the #1 song of the year. Unfortunately, that was the single high note for the band, now widely considered a one-hit wonder. To that I say, give "Good Girls Don't" a listen. I've downloaded it, and the harmonica is filthier than the lyrics. If I were in a punk band, I'd fight to sing this.

Jessica, Allman Brothers Band: I've mentioned Melissa so often, we have to give it up for the brothers other great girl song. Named for Dicky Betts daughter, the Wall Street Journal declared the song "a true national heirloom." That's quite an endorsement. A friend of mine skated to it when he won the adult men's silver freeskate title and of course he's a southern boy.

Layla, Derek and the Dominoes: Dave Marsh of Rolling Stone magazine says this: "there are few moments in the repertoire of recorded rock where a singer or writer has reached so deeply into himself that the effect of hearing them is akin to witnessing a murder or a suicide... to me 'Layla' is the greatest of them."  I concur.

She's Crafty, Beastie Boys: the B boys in the early years were known for chauvantistic, juvenile teenaged rap lyrics, and well, we loved it. Especially when the tables were turned, as in this song. "She's crafty, she knows all the moves, I started playing records, she knows all the grooves. She robbed us blind, she took all we owned, and the boys blamed me for bringing her home."

Ah Leah!, Donnie Iris: I don't know a thing about Donnie outside of this song and "Love is Like a Rock," is a so-ridiculous-it's-cool classic rock staple. Research has revealed a pretty cool life. Iris has been involved in music since he was a child, and was in his first rock band as a teen. He became a solo artist in his late 30s, and obtained the nickname "King Cool" in his 40s. He had a deal with Atari in one of the early examples of rock cross-promotion with video games for the song "Do You Compute?" He's now a grandfather, has the greatest hits album, a Christmas album, has a local beer named after him, key to the city, and does stuff just for fun. That sounds like a charmed rock life to me.

Beth, KISS: hard rock glam metal goes soft. The purist fans I know balk at this and "I Was Made for Loving You" (disco trash!), but let me tell you, without these two songs, KISS would mean nothing to me. The song was written by drummer Peter Criss, and the real Beths are Criss' wife Lydia and a former bandmate's wife Becky. So how do you get to Beth? Creative license.

Sweet Child 'O Mine, Guns n' Roses: the infamous story of Axl and Erin Everly. You can rock hard and love even harder. Perfect moment in time for them, forever a disaster after.

Paulina, No Doubt: From their rare first disc that is more ska than anything they did after. Also one of the rare moments when someone other than Gwen Stefani sings lead. A song about the intense infatuation one had with supermodel Paulina Ocasek.

Annie's Song, John Denver: a classic soft rock standard that has become a wedding song standard. Easy to understand, Denver wrote the song for his wife as a gift, they divorced, then got back together, I believe, on the strength of this song. No matter how soft you rock, you can still get the girl if you are a master troubador.

Cecilia, Simon & Garfunkel: the song has been mentioned before, a staple singalong song for sorority girls at Ripples.

Sweet Caroline, Neil Diamond: ditto.

Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!), Garbage: okaaaaay, not a song about a girl but a song about a boy cross dressing as a girl. Count me in as one of the people who just love the camp value of a cross dressing male, who gets the beauty and absurdity of the state of glamour today. And the names! I have laughed for days at some of the names drag queens give themselves. Example: a plus sized queen named All Beef Patty. You go, um, girl.

Gloria, various: first sung by Them, but my favorite current rendition is by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Tom breaks it down into a 20+ minute groove, straying from the lyrics to tell of talking a gal into going out with him because, see, "I'm in a little rock and roll band, we just did 20 shows at the Fillmore..."

Hey There Delilah, Plain White T's: a nod to my teenaged heart, even in my 40s.

Lay Lady Lay, Bob Dylan: a God to the critics, I've never been a huge Dylan fan, but man, this song is lush and he creates a world where you can feel the heat from the candlelight, smell the smoke from the fireplace, and even see the swirls in the whiskey made by the ice slowly melting in your drink.

My Maria, BW Stevenson: it seems like every classic rock station has its staples. WLAV here in town always seems to play Hocus Pocus by Focus or Edgar Winter's Frankenstein around 1:10 in the afternoon. KSHE in St. Louis loved this jangly little hit for some reason and I don't really even know why, but I grew to love it too.

September Gurls, Big Star: I was interested in Big Star after reading Rob Sheffield's book about his wife Renee, Big Star being her favorite band. They didn't disappoint, and the indie darlings scored a slot in Rolling Stone's list of the top 500 greatest pop songs.

Sour Girl, Stone Temple Pilots: Scott Wieland shirtless singing a love song. Sold.

Woman, John Lennon: start with the Beatles' Girl and end with Lennon's Woman - perfect. Huge hit from his solo release, sadly marked by his passing, which adds to the melancholy. Count me as one of the few fans that don't dislike Yoko, her noteriety overshadows her brilliance as an artist, which is what John saw in the first place. It takes a strong woman to pair up with one of the most brilliant musical artists of the 20th century and hold her own.