Weird Pandora Thing
by theakston Dec 4, 2009 in playlists, radio, social musicDo me a favor, gentle reader:
1. Go to pandora.
2. Set up a Joe Jackson station
3. Fast forward until you get to the first Joe Jackson song
4. Is the next song either a) Elvis Costello or b) Talking Heads? Drop me a line and confirm this in the comments field.
I’ve been having a Joe Jackson week at work, and it just seems that 90% of the time whenever I get through one of his songs, one of those two artists inevitably appear next. Weird metadata kink, I suppose.
Tags: elvis costello, joe jackson, pandora, talking heads, weird thing only i pay attention to
First track: It’s Different for Girls.
Next track: Allison - Elvis Costello
Stupid Pandora, it’s just cycling through the following artists:
Joe Jackson
Elvis Costello
Talking Heads
Police
Joe Jackson
Elvis Costello
Etc.
Grooveshark is more fun. Anything that pops into my head, I throw it on the playlist next. This morning was:
Bill Withers, Meat Beat Manifesto, The Carpenters, The Beatles, M, and XTC.
I think all those artists are def. linked temporally if not exactly stylistically. I remember when “Look Sharp” came out and a lot of people thought it sounded too close to Elvis Costello’s first record.
I turned 18 in 1975, so that ‘75-’80 period looms pretty large in my musical consciousness, so I have a certain bias. But if you do a roll call of people who were doing their best work during that period, and how influential they are now, it was a pretty seminal period. That’s when Disco blew up, Reggae came to America, Punk came to America, Kraftwerk had a top ten hit, and Hip Hop was born.
It was definitely a dangerous time to cash your check and walk into a record store, where you could be greeted by new Elvis Costello, new Joe Jackson, new Talking Heads (when that didn’t disappoint), new Clash, new Jam, new Police, new Sugarhill Gang, new Chic, new Bob Marley… it was when my women friends dragged my homophobic ass to the gay disco and I first heard Arthur Russell’s disco joints.
kent:
when did a talking heads record dissappoint?!?!?!?125
First four off a Last.fm Joe Jackson station:
Joe Jackson - Another World
The Tubes - Drums
XTC - Summer’s Cauldron
Joe Jackson Band - Still Alive