Ha-ha-ha, Wipe out!

That is the start to an unexpected summertime hit originally from 1962. I was a whopping one years old when it came out, so I doubt that I remember the song from 1962. What I do remember from a few years later was my brother learning to play the guitar part. To be honest, the guitar part is not what people remember about the song. What people remember are the three drum solos, each lasting about 16 seconds. My brother had a friend who owned a drumkit, but his mother wouldn’t let them practice at his house. So, the drums came to my house and they practiced there. 

Let’s start with what a wipe out is. When someone on a surfboard is riding a wave, and they fall off, that is a wipe out. The sound that starts the song is supposed to be the sound of a surfboard cracking. I never realized that was what the sound was supposed to be. But, then again, I’ve never even been near a surfboard. Maybe if I’d surfed a few times, I would recognize the sound. 

The group who wrote and originally recorded “Wipe Out” were called the Surfaris. The original band lineup was: Bob Berryhill, rhythm guitar; Pat Connolly, bass; Jim Fuller, lead guitar; and Ron Wilson, vocals and drums. They were all in high school when they agreed to form a band. Apparently, none of their parents were as willing to have the fledgling band practice at their home as my mother was, because it was while the boys were looking for a place to practice that they came across Dave Smallin, who would become their manager.
 
It was at Smallin’s tiny studio that the band recorded the A-side, “Surfer Joe.” (We’ve talked about 45s before. It’s a small record that only held two songs, one on each side. The A-side is the one they think will be a hit. The B-side is usually just filler.) It was when they were reminded that they needed a B-side that “Wipe Out”was born. The band was hesitant to record the song as they did not want to be thought of as an instrumental band. 

Oddly enough, “Wipe Out” was almost called “Stiletto,” and would have given us the sound of a switchblade being opened as its starting sound. Instead, Berryhill’s dad broke a 2x4 near the microphone to supply the sound of the surfboard breaking and Smallin supplied the now-famous laugh followed by the words: Wipe Out.
The song was thrown together and the 45-rpm single was ready for the world. After going through several different record companies, “Wipe Out” hit the airwaves nation-wide in April 1965, which may be about the right time for my brother to have started work on it with his first band. 

The drum solo is a sped-up version of what drummer Ron Wilson would play in the high school band as they would take the field for half-time. Much later, he would set a world record for continuous drum soloing at 104 ½ hours! That’s a lot of drumming. 

Sadly, the group started breaking up in August of 1965. Various members would have their own bands touring as the Surfaris, but that original lineup would never get back together. Ron Wilson, for example, recorded an album which included a cover of “Louie Louie” that had Scottish bagpipes! I need to find that!

I could write a list of all the groups that have covered “Wipe Out,” but it would have to include every garage band on the planet to be complete. There is not a lot to the song. It repeats the same 12-bar blues pattern over and over. It is the variations that make it interesting, and this is where each band can really make it their own.

The song has also been featured in several movies, but my personal favorite is in the 1997 George of the Jungle movie. (The only version I could find was in French. The “Wipe Out” part is toward the end of the clip.) Brendan Fraser looked sooo good in that movie.

Anyway, I’ll be playing a few versions of “Wipe Out” this week on my Minnich Music Facebook page, so check them out.

Until next time!

When I was young I was the nicest guy I knew
I thought I was the chosen one
But time went by and I found out a thing or two
My shine wore off as time wore on
I thought that I was living out the perfect life
But in the lonely hours when the truth begins to bite
I thought about the times when I turned my back & stalled
I ain't no nice guy after all

When I was young I was the only game in town
I thought I had it down for sure,
But time went by and I was lost in what I found
The reasons blurred, the way unsure
I thought that I was living life the only way
But as I saw that life was more than day to day
I turned around, I read the writing on the wall

I ain't no nice guy after all
I ain't no nice guy after all

In all the years you spend between your birth and death
You find there's lots of times you should have saved your breath
It comes as quite a shock when that trip leads to fall 

There are a lot of songs about being a “bad guy.” In 1985, Freddy Mercury wrote and recorded “Mr. Bad Guy.” Much more recently, just this past March, Billie Eilish recorded “Bad Guy.” But the song above is from 1992, and I pretty much guarantee you will be shocked at who wrote/performed this song. Are you sitting down? “I Ain’t no Nice Guy”was written by Ian Fraser Kilmister, otherwise known as Lemmy, the lead singer for Motörhead. 

To make things even more surreal, he is joined on this song by Ozzy Osbourne and Slash. You see that line-up and you expect something loud and dark, and did I mention loud? There is some nice acoustic guitar work, and even a piano! And harmonies! It does get a bit harsher and Slash’s bit is on electric. But it ends softly and introspectively. 

This is honestly a gorgeous song about looking back at your life and realizing that you haven’t been as kind as you could have been. A lot of us go through a realization like this as we get older. This isn’t a song for the very young. This is a song for people of a certainage.
 
I seem to be writing a lot about songs or groups that aren’t my style of music lately. Bananarama, Miss Krystal, and now Motörhead. I honestly do like all sorts of musical styles. Just not these particular performers. In the general swing of things, I will switch stations if a song by Motörhead comes on. There is a chance that I’ll stick with a song by Ozzy. I actually kind of like his voice, when he was a bit younger, and had some idea of what song he was singing. Turns out that when he was a kid, he took part in school productions of various Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. Ozzy Osbourne in The Mikado. I can almost hear it. Almost.

Motörhead, and by extension, Lemmy, are considered to be among the founders of heavy metal music, although Lemmy disliked heavy metal. He felt that they were a rock-and-roll band, with something in common with the punk music scene. Though he was the band’s bassist, having played the guitar before learning bass, Lemmy was known for playing chords instead of individual notes, as most bass players do. Lemmy was instrumental (pun intended) in starting a new musical genre. 

Like Lemmy, there is so much I could write about Ozzy. How Ozzy’s band ended up being called Black Sabbath is like the bit in the movie Spinal Tap when the band members talk about how they got their name. In the case of Black Sabbath, they started out as Rare Breed. That band broke up, with two members reforming into Polka Tulk Blues. I suppose feeling that name was a bit confusing, they renamed themselves Earth. But there was another band named Earth and the band that would become Black Sabbath were mistakenly booked instead of the other band named Earth. So, another name change was in order and, somehow, they came up with Black Sabbath, which was also the name of a movie. My mind has boggled. There is also a Monty Python bit on band names,Toad the Wet Sprocket being one of them. 

Slash, if you don’t know, was the lead guitarist for Guns N Roses, where he earned acclaim as one of the greatest guitarists of the last century. When GNR broke up, he worked with the members who weren’t Axl Rose, to start the band Velvet Revolver. (I really disliked GNR. I kind of like Velvet Revolver. Turns out I just really disliked Axl Rose. I was not alone.) Slash also works with a charity called Little Kids Rock, which helps to revitalize music programs in disadvantaged school systems. He even goes into the schools and jams with the kids. Can you imagine the impact that would have on a little kid? Jamming with Slash? 

No, I am not going to talk about the alcohol and drug use, or the many, many shocking things that Lemmy and Ozzy have done through the years. But I do think that this song is born out of that behavior. It is a good song, with a message that most of us who are of a certainage can identify with. Give it a listen.

What do you think? Are you a fan of Motörhead, Black Sabbath, GNR, or Velvet Revolver? Let me know in the comments below. I will be posting this, and a few other songs by these artists this week on my Minnich Music FaceBook page, so check them out.

Until next time!
 

A long time ago someone gave me a Swiss Army Knife. It looked a lot like this one, except that the cover was bright red. It had a file, saw, screwdriver, fish scaler, scissors, corkscrew, on and on. As I recall, it did nothing well. Maybe it was a decent corkscrew, but I was 10 or 11 when it was given to me, so I have no idea. It taught me a valuable lesson: when something seems too good to be true, it probably is. And the corollary: when something tries to do too many things, it’s probably not going to be good at them all.

When cell phones first started catching on and were much smaller than the “brick” of the 1980s, the manufacturers started putting cameras in them. In keeping with the above rules, those early cameras were crap. They were trying to do too much.

What does this have to do with music? Well, when I was researching the blog on “Cruel Summer,” I came across a cover done by Miss Krystle. Since I’d never heard of her, I went to Wikipedia for some information. You know how the first paragraph on Wikipedia gives you a thumbnail of their accomplishments? Well, here’s what it says: 

 “Krystle Delgado, popularly known as Miss Krystle, is an American singer, songwriter, music producer, entertainment attorney, and humanitarian.”

And I went – “Whaaa???” Keep in mind that if something, or in this case, someone, seem too good to be true, they probably are. So, I read further. It talked about her having been homeschooled. Cool, my kids were homeschooled, too. She went to law school and apparently also passed the Bar, making her probably somewhere in her late 20s – early 30s now, in spite of the Lolita-style stuff in her videos. The entire Wikipedia page reads like she wrote it when she was a teenager. There is even a section on her “Miss Krystle symbol” that she wears as a tattoo.

Her humanitarianism is that she has started a 501(c)3 charity designed to help prevent child abuse in her local area. Laudable to be sure.

This is not my style of music, so I asked some younger friends if they were familiar with her. No one was. I started looking at other articles on her, and they all appear to be smaller, regional press. Her videos seem to be doing reasonably well on YouTube, with some of the more recent ones breaking 100,000 views.

While her voice is electronically augmented, I could not hear any autotuning. And that is a big plus for her. Why, then, am I so put off by her? Perhaps she is on the verge of a major career and is working on branding herself for when that happens. Perhaps she is just amazingly pretentious.

I’ve been trying to figure out why I am not impressed. Something about this performer is, to me, off-putting. What?!?!? I feel like I should be supporting this young singer/songwriter/lawyer/ humanitarian. I find myself wanting a little more person and a little less hype. 

Then I asked myself if I would feel this way if she were male. And that’s when I realized where my problem lies. I wouldn’t be bothered if she were male, because a man would probably not do what she does. In her videos, she pouts and preens and alternates between a sex kitten and Lolita. She touts Lady Gaga as an inspiration. Lady Gaga comes across on her videos as a strong, confident, and yes, sexy woman. But, to the best of my knowledge, she has never played the sex kitten. This persona is what women have been fighting against for decades, and I object to someone who is espousing self-empowerment concepts playing that card.

Whew. I feel better. Have you seen any of Miss Krystle’s videos? Do you like the music? Am I horrifically overreacting? Let me know in the comments below. I’ll be posting some of her videos and other artists this week on my Minnich Music Facebook page, so check them out.

Until next time!

“Begin the Beguine” is one of those songs.  It seems that if you are familiar with it, you either love it or hate it. A lot has been written about it. I have read pages and pages while researching this blog.

It was written for the 1935 musical Jubilee, either on a world cruise that composer Cole Porter and playwright Moss Hart took, or while Porter was living in Paris and heard at a nightclub. Either way, the rhythmic style of “Begin the Beguine” was something quite new to the American/European market.

I’ve written about how Hart and Porter wrote Jubilee and a bit about the ridiculous plot in the previous blog, Just One of Those Things, so, if you are interested, please go check that one out. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.
Back so soon? I hope you enjoyed the information on Jubilee and now we can go on with “Beginning the Beguine.”

There is a lot of debate on what precisely a beguineis. I read in one article that said that on the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique that beguine is the feminine form of the local Creole bekeor begue, which means a white person. I could find absolutely no corroboration on this one. According to Merriam-Webster, beguine is a noun meaning: 

1. A member of one of the various ascetic and philanthropic communities of women not under vows founded chiefly in the Netherlands in the 13th century
2. A vigorous popular dance of the islands of Saint Lucia and Martinique that somewhat resembles the rhumba

(A rhumba should never be confused with a Roomba. A Roomba will not make for a good dance, and a rhumba will not clean your floors.)

The song was not one that people left Jubilee humming. Most popular songs ran for 32 measures. “Begin the Beguine” has, in the arrangement that I have, 112 measures! That would make 3.5 normal pop songs! And the format is also unusual. Most songs were set up with a verse- chorus, verse-chorus kind of feel. Maybe with a bridge, or middle 8 thrown in for good measure. (The bridge and the middle 8 are the same thing—usually they are 8 measures and are a different melodic pattern that bridge one section to another.) This is different: 

When they begin the Beguine
It brings back the sound of music so tender
It brings back a night of tropical splendor,
It brings back a memory evergreen.
 
I’m with you once more under the stars
And down by the shore an orchestra’s playing
And even the palms seem to be swaying
When they begin the Beguine.
 
To live it again is past all endeavor,
Except when that tune clutches my heart,
And there we are, swearing to love forever,
And promising never, never to part.
 
What moments divine, what rapture serene,
Till clouds came along to disperse the joys we had tasted,
And now when I hear people curse the chance that was wasted,
I know but too well what they mean;
 
So, don’t let them begin the Beguine,
Let the love that was once a fire remain an ember;
Let it sleep like the dead desire I only remember
When they begin the Beguine.
 
Oh yes, let them begin the Beguine, make them play
Till the stars that were there before return above you,
Till you whisper to me once more, “Darling, I love you!”
And we suddenly know what heaven we’re in,
When they begin the Beguine,
When they begin the Beguine.
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In “Begin the Beguine” we start off with a nice solid A section, and then a second A section that has a variant mid-way through. For the next bit, we think we are having a third A section, but it has a lot of slightly lowered notes, to give us the feel of a new key, and by the time we’ve gotten to “there we are, swearing to love forever,” we’ve gone in a new direction, at first leading me to think that this is our bridge, but it runs for 16 measures. That’s as long as our A sections, so I guess it counts as B. And our bridge comes up next, we’ll call it C. Then at “So, don’t let them” we are starting our D section, and the end is a repeat of that.  
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Wow, that’s a lot different from the verse-chorus routine. There is no chorus! They are all verses, and all slightly different.

As a singer, how can we approach something like this? There is a lot there to pull out. We start off softly and fairly low as we begin to remember a specific evening with a specific person. 

When we get to “I’m with you once more”, the singer is vividly reliving this one evening. But we find out in the next section, that “to live it again is past all endeavor”. Or is it? “Except when that tune clutches my heart.”Clutches, not grabs, not holds, not clasps. Clutches. There is feeling of more desperation to clutches isn’t there? As if the tune is responsible, not the singer. And this section has brought us a lot of lowered notes, meaning that we have delved into a minor key.

“And there we are, swearing to love forever.” We have reached what in another song could be the end. We’ve had the very emotional, “and promising never, never to part.” But our memory is not done with us. The memory is turning sour. “Till clouds came along to disperse the joys we had tasted.” Whew, things are getting rough. “And now when I hear people curse the chance that was wasted.” Curseis one of the high notes in this song. All of the high notes are so well placed. In the previous section, swearingis also a high note. The vowels are easy to sing, and the words are so evocative.

Having remembered all this anguish, now we don’t want the orchestra to begin the Beguine.  “So, don’t let them begin the Beguine!” This is a cry that is almost all on the high notes of the song. The memories are too painful, “let the love that was once a fire remain an ember.” 

But finally, it would be too much to try and forget. “Let them begin the Beguine.” In fact, “make them play.” Once again, cried out on the song’s high note. “Till the stars that were there before return above you.” We know that that will never happen. Those stars will never return to that precise position. They not only have to return to that position, but that person must be under them. Not likely. And when we get to: “and we suddenly know what heaven we’re in,” does that mean that we are now in Hell? Or a variant thereof? Kind of sounds like it to me. 

And all of this happens whenever a band plays a Beguine. To me, this is a song of such desolation. And, yet, most of the time, this character is going about their daily business (in her case, being a princess), but with this lost happiness behind her. 

I had a boyfriend in college. (I had several, but this is one particular boyfriend.) He had had a girlfriend in high school that he had left behind in another state. Their song was “Babe” by Styx. Every time we would go to the local club, he would ask the DJ to play that song. And he would sit, holding my hand, and wiping tears from his eyes. (I never said he was a good boyfriend!) “Babe” was his “Beguine.”

Do you have a song that always “brings back a memory ever green?” One that makes you happy and sad every time you hear it? Let me know in the comments below. I’ll be playing some versions of this and other songs by Cole Porter this week on my Minnich Music Facebook page, so be sure to check those out!
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Until next time!