Tuesday Tunes 96: Two

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It is almost unbelievable to me, but this week marks the second anniversary of when I began this series. It wasn’t intended to be a series, as I was just posting a few tunes I liked to bring a little light relief after our esteemed (sorry, I misspelled moronic) Prime Minister had taken us into our first national Covid lockdown the previous evening. But a comment suggested that I should make it a regular feature, and it just grew from there. I originally played two or three tunes each week, then that expanded to a ‘norm’ of six, before I gave in to my natural indecision and upped the quota to eight. In general, these posts have been well received and I’m grateful to everyone who has ever read, liked and/or commented on them, especially the band of you I regard as regular friends and who I have come to rely on to keep me going. To recognise the anniversary, I have chosen two as this week’s theme, and as so often I found far more than I needed, and have had the regular difficulty in keeping the play list to a manageable number! I have left out some obvious candidates, as they would have involved my falling back on those usual suspects who often feature here, and have come up with what I think is a fairly eclectic mix. I hope you enjoy them!

Not wanting to get political or anything, but this week’s opener fits the bill for me of giving us a rousing start, and it is just as relevant today as it was when it first came out in 1984:

Sadly, that feels almost prophetic now. In case you don’t remember, the protagonists in that ‘fight’ were Reagan and Brezhnev, and it does feel as though history could be repeating itself and maybe even getting worse than those latter Cold War days, when sabres were rattled but not used. Frankie Goes To Hollywood were a fairly short-lived phenomenon, and produced just two albums – though these have somehow managed to spawn thirteen compilations! This was from their first, Welcome To The Pleasuredome, released in October 1984, and reaching #1 in the UK and #33 in the US. It was a double album, comprising band compositions and several covers, including a good version of Born To Run. It went triple platinum in the UK, with sales of nearly a million, and gold in the US, selling over half a million copies. The album courted a fair amount of controversy at the time, as it included reworked versions of some tracks which had already been released as singles: this is one of those, having first appeared as a single in June 1984, reaching #1 for nine weeks in the UK, hitting the top in another six countries across Europe, and peaking at #43 in the US. FGTH were the epitome of a band that took the country by storm and then disappeared as rapidly as they had arrived.

Today’s second tune is also from a band that enjoyed phenomenal success, though it is a little more restrained than that first one:

Two Of Us was the opening track on The Beatles’ final album, Let It Be, which was released in May 1970. It was poorly received by critics but that didn’t prevent it from topping the charts in the UK, the US, Canada and Australia, as well as elsewhere, and it has sold over 5m copies worldwide. For many, though, it was a rather sad ending to the band’s career after all the highs they had given us in their seven and a half years of making records. This is one of my favourites on the album but it wasn’t released as a single, hence the audio-only version I’m playing you.

After a couple of comments I have made in recent posts about my total lack of dancing skills I felt I just had to include this next one. It is an album track, so it is another audio-only one I’m afraid:

The video gives a rather large clue to the fact that this was a track on Richard Thompson’s album Hand Of Kindness, released in June 1983. He has never been a major player in the charts, and the only placing I can find for this one is that it reached #186 in the US. He has a loyal following, though, and all of his subsequent albums have reached the UK top 100, three of them making the top twenty and one hitting the top ten. I’ve loved his music ever since he began his career as a founder member of Fairport Convention, in 1968. I’ve seen him play live with the Fairports, with his former wife Linda, as a solo act and with his band, and he is consistently excellent.

Like Richard Thompson, this next band write a lot of their own material, though this one is in fact a cover version of a traditional American song:

This was a track on the Cowboy Junkies’ album Early 21st Century Blues, released in August 2005. It didn’t make the charts anywhere, as far as I can tell, possibly due to the fact that it was largely an album protesting war and public antipathy towards the political process, which might have put off some potential buyers. As with my opening song for this week, there is a timely message here, and news reports of Russian and Ukrainian mothers losing their sons bring this right up to today. Two Soldiers is an American Civil War ballad, by an unknown author, purportedly inspired by the 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg, and was apparently well-known in its time. It has also been recorded by Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia and Ricky Skaggs, among others, but the beautiful voice of Margo Timmins was always going to be my choice for this one.

I’m rather hoping that this next one will complete a run of three songs that may be new to you:

The Deep Dark Woods are an alt-country/Americana band from Saskatoon in Canada, who have to date released seven albums since their eponymous debut in 2006. Like much of the music I listen to I was introduced to them by our national treasure, ‘Whispering Bob’ Harris, on his late Saturday night show on BBC Radio 2, and I love their music. Wikipedia gives no details of any chart placings for any of their records: I’m hoping that is an oversight rather than a reflection of a lack of chart success, as I think they deserve some recognition. This was a track on their 2009 album Winter Hours, which won them the ‘Ensemble of the Year’ award at the Canadian Folk Music Awards, so at least I’m not alone in liking them! I’d never heard of The Neighbors Dog, though, but from what I can find this is a Canadian tv show from 2010 onwards, which features live music performed in intimate settings, often in people’s homes or, as in this video, in a pub. It sounds like fun! Their YouTube page has a whole collection of videos – some of which are fairly recent – if you’d like to see and hear more. There is a lovely laid back feel to this song, which is perfect for the show’s vibe.

This next one is by a band I’ve always liked, in a rather special performance from an October 2008 edition of the tv show CMT Crossroads – Def Leppard playing with Taylor Swift and her band:

That show paired country acts with rock musicians and this one worked well, I think. There is a version of Def Leppard’s song Hysteria from this show on YouTube, taken as a straight duet with Taylor, and it is excellent. Joe Elliott tells the story of this song in his introduction, so I won’t repeat that. The song was originally released on their October 1993 album Retro Active, which was a compilation album that included some reworked versions of several of their songs and reached #6 in the UK and #9 in the US. As a single, this peaked at #32 in the UK and #12 in the US. I don’t think I’ve seen the movie in which it featured, Last Action Hero. Is it any good?

Today’s penultimate tune is a real pop classic. I looked long and hard to find a version of the two of them singing it live, but without any luck. At least this video has some nice pictures to look at:

Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston’s single of It Takes Two was released in December 1966: it peaked at #14 in the US in January 1967, and gave Gaye his first UK hit single a couple of months later when it reached #16. It was also the opening track on an album of duets the pair recorded, called Take Two. The album reached #24 in the US R&B chart but wasn’t a mainstream hit anywhere. This is one of those songs that says ‘Tamla Motown’ to me – they made so many great records around that time.

I’m closing today with one of my favourite bands. This is far from being their best known song, but it is still great to hear today:

This track was originally released in January 1983 on an EP called, wait for it… ExtendedancEPlay, which has been released on vinyl and cassette, but never on CD. It reached #53 in the US but wasn’t a hit anywhere else. Maybe people found it too hard to ask for in record shops? As you can see from the video the song was included on Dire Straits’ first live album, Alchemy, which came out in February 1984, having been recorded the previous July at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. This was a double album, which reached #3 in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland, whilst making it to #1 in the Netherlands. It was less successful in North America, though, only getting to #46 in the US and #26 in Canada. It is still one of my favourite live albums, and this video probably shows you why. It was recorded over the final two nights of an eight month world tour promoting their Love Over Gold album – also a favourite of mine (as are all of their albums, really).

So, that’s it for this week. Happy two-th anniversary to Tuesday Tunes. I wonder if the series will still be here for a third anniversary? Watch this space!

I hope you have a great week and avoid Boris Johnson’s trick of putting his foot in his mouth every time he opens it to speak 😊

48 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 96: Two”

  1. Pingback: March On, March On | Take It Easy

    • It has that ring about it, doesn’t it, but I’m sure the locals don’t think that! I’ve been a fan of Dire Straits from their very first records – they made some great music.

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  3. The issue with Cowboy Junkies was the US President at the time. This band, the Dixie Chicks, all had trouble getting airplay and their records distributed because Bush came out and called protest songs, particularly those about him, un American. Or in his lingo “unmerikin”. Large retail distributors refused to offer albums by these “types.” I suppose that’s when “Americana” turned ukulele and Hallmark moment folkie. Substance in a pop song has been banished. Even though Grace Slick will tell you it’s supreme arrogance to assume you can change the world with a pop song. And she should know.

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    • Bush was responsible for taking the US into an illegal war, and dragging his idiot boy Blair along too. Hardly surprising that there were protest songs, or that politicians’ skins were too thin to cope with it. I saw The Chicks in London in September 2003, six months after Natalie Maines’ comment that brought the huge backlash. She was unrepentant! I think she showed that pop singers can have an influence and not just through their songs – but not many suffer death threats as a result.

      And the Cowboy Junkies are Canadian so have every right to be unAmerican!

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      • I was a Guess Who, or rather a Burton Cummings fan for the very America’s problems aren’t mine attitude. Politicians want pablum and diversions, not someone urging th3 populace to pay attention.

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  4. Hi Clive
    Happy two year anniversary and quite a fitting theme for the anniversary
    The Frankie Goes to Hollywood was new to me but I d remember when they were popular – and I learned a bit to hear that had that burst of being a phenomenon and then disappeared. Reminds me that bands have problems and can’t always stick together and who knows why!
    The Richard Thompson two left feet was fun (esp as you noted you don’t dance)
    And two soldiers was an enjoyable smooth song but such dense and heavy lyricist and like you said – it might be why it didn’t chat !
    —
    You sure did offer us a nice variety today!
    The def leopard and Taylor swift was quite a unique find! It reminded me of swift’s country beginning and also seeing her in that video was before she would become a mega-star (I think it came later)
    /
    Smooth Marvin Gaye and the dire straits is playing now as I type – truly a nice way to end the post with that live jam!
    🎶🎵

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    • Thank you, Yvette. I thought it was a good idea for a theme and I’m glad you enjoyed the music. I deliberately went for variety and some that I thought would be unfamiliar to many.

      FGTH were enormous for a couple of years then disappeared almost without trace.

      As I said in the post I’ve long been a fan of Richard Thompson, who has given us a huge variety of music all on his own! This is one of his fun songs.

      Anything with Margo Timmons gets my vote 😊

      I checked on Wiki. The Def Leppard/Taylor Swift session was recorded four days before her second album – Fearless – was released. That was the one that made her an instant megastar around the world. She has sold records by the truck load since then.

      The final two just demanded that I included them: a pop classic and one of my favourite bands 😊

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  5. As usual you’ve pretty much outdone yourself, some fantastic tracks here though my favourite is unarguably Marvin and Kim. Also as usual you introduce me to songs not previously known and similar with Artistes shows just how lacking my music knowledge actually is. Happy second anniversary, here’s to the next two.

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  9. I never heard the first song; enjoyed the video, although it is kind of scary…

    was not familiar with the second song either, but the name of the band rings a bell…

    make it three in a row, but I did like Two Left Feet…

    loved that fourth song, despite its sadness. I agree, Margo has a lovely voice,,,

    forget not knowing three in a row – this makes it five, but I really enjoyed this one. I’ll be looking for more of their music…

    the Def Leppard/Taylor Swift combo was great. I’ve never heard of the song, or the idea of joining a rock and country band, but I like it…

    finally knew one, thanks to Marvin and Kim!

    great closing song, although it means I only knew one of the songs this week.

    congrats on your two years; I’ll have to check to see if I have been here for the two years…

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    • And kind of prophetic, too, nearly 40 years on.

      Not their most well known song, I think.

      Richard Thompson is well worth a hearing – he has given us so much good music over more than 50 years.

      I thought you’d like that one – a pity I couldn’t find a video of them playing it live.

      Deep Dark Woods are another band who are under the radar for most, but are very good.

      The song was a hit for Def Leppard, as Joe Elliott says in the video. The video of them playing one of their biggest hits – Hysteria – with Taylor from the same show is on YouTube and is great. Look up CMT Crossroads on Wikipedia: they give a full list of shows and songs played, and there are some interesting match ups there.

      I love a lot of those earlyish Tamla songs, and this one was always going to be in today.

      Almost a throwaway song by Dire Straits, but great fun at a live show.

      Thanks for the congrats. I’ve just looked up my followers list: you joined me on 15 April 2020, about three weeks after these started. Thank you for your loyal support for all that time, I really do appreciate it 😊

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  10. I’m surprised I’m not familiar with the Frankie Goes to Hollywood track. Though the video is political, it has a “professional wrestling” vibe. Oddly, I also had never heard the Beatles’ song before either., although that’s understandable since it wasn’t a single and I never owned the Let it Be album. Hand of Kindness is a real toe-tapper. Two Soldiers is a good tune with a pleasing sound and an important message. Two Time Loser isn’t a bad song, but it’s not my preferred genre. I never pictured Def Leppard combining with Taylor Swift, but I like their sound very much. This was the first song this week I was familiar with. Gaye and Weston’s voices are delightful in this duet. Excellent one to close with as I’m also a big fan of Dire Straits. The only three I knew were the last trio of songs.

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    • Nothing wrong with not knowing them, Pete, especially as I was deliberately going for songs I thought would be unfamiliar to many. That Def Leppard/Taylor Swift one is a good collaboration. If you enjoyed it I can recommend Hysteria, from the same show. Like I’ve said before, there’s nothing wrong with not liking some of them: I was aiming for variety and that was always likely to be the outcome 😊

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  12. Some of these are a bit too country for me but there are TWO stonkers for me -Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston’s ‘It takes Two’ and the Beatles ”Two of Us’ (haven’t heard that for ages). And congratulations on two years of Tuesday Tunes!!

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  14. Congrats on 2 years of fabulous tunes, Clive there are always some that are new to me especially from over the pond…lol…Two left feet was one such song but it had me foot tapping, Def Leppard /Taylor Swift is great and Dire Straits are always a good listen…A good Tuesday, Clive…Here’s to many more 🙂 x

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    • Thank you, Carol. Where did those two years go? This week I deliberately went for some that I thought would be new to people. I could have included regulars like Springsteen, Petty, Steeleye Span, for example, but I tried something different. Tbh there are loads of songs with ‘two’ in their title! Glad you enjoyed them 😊 x

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  15. The Deep Dark Woods are amazing. Those prairie bands are understated but usually very good. I’m also a huge fan of Dire Straits. Congrats on the second anniversary of entertaining us with well-chosen tunes. Have a great week.

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    • They are amazing, aren’t they! They sometimes put me in mind of another favourite Canadian band – Great Lake Swimmers. Pleased to find another Dire Straits fan too – for me, they can do no wrong. And thanks for the congrats. You have a great week too 😊

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  16. Clive, I love “Two of us” by The Beatles. It is usually beneath the radar of airplay. I am listening to the Def Leppard and Taylor Swift version of the “Two steps behind” as it is an interesting pairing. Thanks for sharing. Keith

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    • You’re right, Keith, it isn’t often given airplay, which I think is a pity. That CMT Crossroads show has come up with several interesting pairings. If you watch the video of them doing Hysteria it’s almost as if Taylor is in fangirl mode, and it’s lovely to see.

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