The Daily Challenge!

A song with androgynous sounding vocals – Tiny Tim had such a wide vocal range that he sings both the male and female parts in this duet by himself… Often thought of as a novelty act (which is partly true), but he was actually more, a talented musician with an encyclopedic knowledge of old-time songs from the earliest days of recording through the 50s, a collector of 78’s & sheet music, and a consummate entertainer and performer. He could play the clown if necessary, as long as he was entertaining an audience. After a long and varied career, he literally died on stage performing, despite the fact that his doctors had warned him that he was too weak to perform.

A song with up or down in the title –
Over,Under,Sideways,Down by Manster, from the original Live at CBGB’s lp. Manster was one of those great local bands that played a lot in ’76 ’77 ’78 but really didn’t go as far as they should have, & never released an album. Two of their songs are preserved on the CBGB’s lp. Over Under Sideways Down was originally recorded by The Yardbirds, but Manster does a truly manic, crazed version. Good indication of how varied & eclectic the early NYC Punk really was…

A song from a record that has packaging you love – Billion Dollar Babies by Alice Cooper. In the Golden Age of vinyl, removing the cellophane was an exciting moment for a record buyer. Maybe you’d have a gatefold cover, picture sleeve, lyric sheets, maybe posters or stickers… and of course GREAT music! Billion Dollar Babies is a GREAT lp & so is the packaging, the cover looks like a giant snakeskin wallet & it opens to expose a giant billion dollar bill with the band’s picture on it, in a billfold, it can be removed to hang on your wall! It also includes a color picture sleeve and removable wallet-size pictures of the band members. A Great $ packaging concept, and an EXCELLENT album, Here’s the title track…

A song featured in a commercial- Lust For Life by Iggy Pop, was featured in a commercial for Royal Caribbean Cruises. It was also in the film Trainspotting, and others. The incredible bass and drum riff throughout the song was by brothers Tony and Hunt Sales (Soupy Sales’ sons). Iggy’s song being used in Trainspotting, a film about London lowlifes and drugs, seemed appropriate, but the song in a luxury Cruise Line ad seemed kind of funny and ironic to me & anyone familiar with Iggy/Stooges history, but most listeners probably just thought it was a fun catchy tune, lol… At least it got Iggy a well deserved payday.

A song with Dream in the title –
Dream Lover by the Plasmatics

An artist or band with a number in their name- The 13th Floor Elevators, You’re Gonna Miss Me

https://youtu.be/a6JLKbSjH3E

A song that you’d like to be the theme for 2021- (What’s so funny ’bout) Peace, Love & Understanding by Elvis Costello & the Attractions… Written by Nick Lowe and originally recorded by his early band Brinsley Schwartz, but the Elvis Costello version is the most popular/famous version. Let’s hope, & work toward, a 2021 with much more peace, love and understanding!

A song under 90 seconds -hmmm, a very short song, you might say more is less… So I selected the song Less not More by the Residents. It is from their “Commercial Album” which consists entirely of very short songs about 1 minute each… The Residents’ theory was to condense a song to its basic elements, they said that if you want a “regular” full song, Just loop each one three times! They also booked commercials on a popular San Francisco rock radio station to play these Snippets, a different one each day, for 40 days… They said it was the only way they could get on Commercial radio, LOL!