I didn't see Sweet Tooth but it's always surprising how filmmakers use songs. I'm not crazy about having bad associations attached to songs I love, but sometimes the song elevates the scene, like when the character Eddie played Metallica in Stranger Things and then died, a perfect use in my book.
A great band. They got heat for not writing songs, but they knew how to pick 'em. They made hits out of tunes from a diverse group of people, including Randy Newman, Laura Nyro, Harry Nilsson, Hoyt Axton, John Hiatt and Allen Toussaint.
The B side of the original single is pretty interesting, too. "Our B Side" was a satirical piece directed at the executives of their label, Dunhill, who were very insistent on having a good B side for the single. So it was basically them saying "Get off our backs!" in musical form.
I just listened to "Our B Side." Pretty humorous and good for them.
If they were part of an operation like Motown or Aldon Publishing, they wouldn't necessarily have been expected to write hits, just sing them. As you say, they were excellent song-pickers and interpreters. That's all we listeners cared about. (I had no clue who wrote a song!)
You always pick such great songs Ellen! This has always been one of my favorite Three Dog Night tunes. I remember listening to it (and buying the single) at the age of 10 having no idea what "Shambala" meant. Later I knew that it related to something related to Eastern religions or philosophical thought but I never dug into it too deeply. I still loved the song regardless!
Thanks, Dan. (You do too in your memoire with your favorite song list for every year, which I recommend to whomever reads this.)
I never knew exactly what it meant either, until I wrote this post. I just knew it was fun and upbeat - what I'm looking for this week. And a great dance song.
I didn't see Sweet Tooth but it's always surprising how filmmakers use songs. I'm not crazy about having bad associations attached to songs I love, but sometimes the song elevates the scene, like when the character Eddie played Metallica in Stranger Things and then died, a perfect use in my book.
A great band. They got heat for not writing songs, but they knew how to pick 'em. They made hits out of tunes from a diverse group of people, including Randy Newman, Laura Nyro, Harry Nilsson, Hoyt Axton, John Hiatt and Allen Toussaint.
The B side of the original single is pretty interesting, too. "Our B Side" was a satirical piece directed at the executives of their label, Dunhill, who were very insistent on having a good B side for the single. So it was basically them saying "Get off our backs!" in musical form.
I just listened to "Our B Side." Pretty humorous and good for them.
If they were part of an operation like Motown or Aldon Publishing, they wouldn't necessarily have been expected to write hits, just sing them. As you say, they were excellent song-pickers and interpreters. That's all we listeners cared about. (I had no clue who wrote a song!)
You always pick such great songs Ellen! This has always been one of my favorite Three Dog Night tunes. I remember listening to it (and buying the single) at the age of 10 having no idea what "Shambala" meant. Later I knew that it related to something related to Eastern religions or philosophical thought but I never dug into it too deeply. I still loved the song regardless!
Thanks, Dan. (You do too in your memoire with your favorite song list for every year, which I recommend to whomever reads this.)
I never knew exactly what it meant either, until I wrote this post. I just knew it was fun and upbeat - what I'm looking for this week. And a great dance song.
You've seen the Danny Hutton doc, right?
No, is it on streaming or youtube? Would love to watch.
Yeah this is what I saw but I think a better doc should someday be produced…absorbing though:
https://youtu.be/X4mySYPdqaU?si=419jlLFLqdH9sapU
Thanks for the link, Michael, will give it a watch.
Great song & great story. Thanks for sharing Ellen !
My pleasure!
Always liked that song, and now I know what it was about:) Thanks Ellen
Yep, interesting to dig into these songs we listened and sang along to with no clue what we were singing about! Cheers, Paul.
so true...I had no clue most of the time. I'm more a tunes, riffs, solos guy:)