Song of the Week #8:
This editon of SOTW features a double shot from The Tubes. If you’re just about my age, you remember a brief period when the Tubes were early MTV darlings with their hits “She’s a Beauty” and “Talk to Ya Later.” If you’re a little older, you probably remember their mercurial lead singer Fee Waybill and their circus antics that even shocked fans in their native San Francisco. Even now, I still hear old-timers laughing about The Tubes and their PT Barnum-inspired numskullery.
Whatever. “Later” and “Beauty” are two delicious hunks of pop craftsmanship, beautifully constructed yet dizzingly alive. Both are about the wrong kind of woman: One who won’t leave after the relationship is long past broke, the other an untouchable goddess, who in this case predicts the tragic allure of Internet porn.
I rediscovered The Tubes in college and promptly forced my roommates to listen to “Later” everytime we went to the grocery store. They became zealots.
Listen in. I defy you not to grin and sing along.
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OMG!!!!!
Thanks for posting these. I LOVED these songs.
OMG!!!!!
Thanks for posting these. I LOVED these songs.
Ah, the Tubes. I remember them well. Early MTV memories. May I also recommend (only half-jokingly) their work for two soundtracks. One, the main title song for Chevy Chase guy-gets-telekinetic-powers-from-nuclear-waste vehicle “Modern Problems.” The other, a collaboration with Olivia Newton John and a swing band from “Xanadu” that produces something that has to be heard to be believed. It’s called “Dancin’ Round and Round.” I don’t have links to these, but I highly recommend that you track them down.
Ah, the Tubes. I remember them well. Early MTV memories. May I also recommend (only half-jokingly) their work for two soundtracks. One, the main title song for Chevy Chase guy-gets-telekinetic-powers-from-nuclear-waste vehicle “Modern Problems.” The other, a collaboration with Olivia Newton John and a swing band from “Xanadu” that produces something that has to be heard to be believed. It’s called “Dancin’ Round and Round.” I don’t have links to these, but I highly recommend that you track them down.