DARK SURPRISE

I pulled out of the parking garage, acquired a signal, and entered the '60s.

Dance, Dance, Dance-- The Beach Boys
You can hear the palpable tension between Brian's ardor for artistic growth and Mike Love's desire to continue to get his balding ass laid. Love wins here by a nose.

Come and Get It-- Badfinger
In which Apple's favorite manic depressives take a little slice of Paul nothing and make it into something. I especially like the part where Paul was too lazy to write a connecting lyric, and just sticks in a hum.

Uptight (Everything's Alright)-- Stevie Wonder
16 years old? 16 years old? What were you doing when you were 16? Writing and performing spurts of pure effusive joy that would become the soundtrack to one of the most important social movements of the 20th century? Yeah, me neither. I was getting stoned and pissing outdoors in winter...

Elusive Butterfly-- Bob Lind
The kind of obscure folkimbo that everyone should hear, oh, once every couple of years, which'll give you enough distance to mythologize the sweet production while you gloss over the insipid lyrics.

Sunshine of Your Love-- Cream
This earned my short-term esteem by starting out “It's getting near dark...” at the precise moment that I lowered my car's visor to blunt a setting sun. It crunched along in all its clockwork crunchiness, and in this context I loved it for 4:10...

Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)-- Edison Lighthouse
Props for writing a tongue twister for a chorus. And for naming yourselves after a fucking lighthouse.

(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman-- Aretha Franklin
The least of the things I love about this is the fact that Goffin and King lead with the parens-- that's such a cool move.

Midnight Special-- Johnny Rivers
I honestly didn't know that he did a version of this. It sucks, but it's not Secret Agent Man, and I prefer archaeology to the obvious...

Mama Told Me (Not to Come)-- Three Dog Night
See, this would've been hipper if it had been called (Mama Told Me) Not to Come, but what are you going to do. And anyway, the book on early Randy Newman was that he was so unhip that he was hip. Chuck Negron and the dogs basically channel him here...

This short survey earns '60s Vibrations a B+. Now if I turn it on next week and hear Bob Lind again, I mght have to adjust downward.

Tomorrow: Totally '70s.