The HIstory of Charlie on the MTA

Great piece in the Boston Globe giving the history of the song, Charlie on the MTA. Turns out, it was a Commie song commissioned by mayoral candidate Walter O'Brien (not George), who was later black-listed during the Red Scare.  The name was timidly changed by the Kingston Trio who made the song famous and didn't want to risk offense to the tea party of their day.

Here's how the song was inspired:

O’Brien couldn’t afford radio ads, but he had a boxy old truck outfitted with speakers and a platform. He had asked a quintet named the Boston Peoples Artists to compose and record some songs he could broadcast from the truck as it drove through the city, and sometimes to play live from the truck at rallies.

A Very Cool Video

The best I've seen in a long time.  I didn't want it to end.

Robert Plant on NPR

The sounds of Led Zeppelin blasted from NPR for my ride home as a backdrop for an interview with lead singer, Robert Plant.  While I like Led Zeppelin a lot, it wasn't one of my favorite bands back in the day.  Still, this interview moved me to tears, not because it was sad, but because the music was so good.  Maybe the discordance of this kind of music coming from the usual calm mien of NPR, but they never sounded so good.  Of course, Plant's voice was featured, as what a voice it was/is.  But it was the instrumentals that impressed me, Jimmy Page's powerful guitar riffs and the drummer was breathtaking.  I don't even know his name.

Still, it was a pleasant blast from the past.

Check it out.

40 Songs, 4 Cords

An Australian comedy rock band goes through 40 pop songs in 5 minutes using just 4 musical cords. Genius.

Let it Rain

Here's something I stumbled across that surprised me.  I'm a huge fan of Motown and loooove the Temptations.  I sang My Gal to help my daughter go to sleep hundreds of times when she was young.

I've always loved the song, Let It Rain, but just learned the story behind that song from the Crooks and Liars website:

Lyricist Roger Penzabene penned the words after finding out that his wife was cheating on him and he tragically committed suicide a week after the single was released.

Now, listen to the song in light of that news.  I'll never hear it the same again.