Mazzy Star - Fade Into You

Another good late night tune.

Saigon Sunday - Talk Talk - "Talk Talk"

This track helped us win 2nd place last Tuesday night at trivia.

The theme was song titles that contain the artist name. Other artists featured: Big Country, Queen, Jimmie Ray, Body Count, the Monkees, etc.

It's also a great song to type into a search engine. YouTube handled it well.

Saigon Sunday - Whale - Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe

Back in the Saigon Sunday heyday, it took me forever to learn the name of this song and the artist. I couldn't even Google the song because for the most part the lyrics are absolutely unintelligible, which I suspect was part of the the point of the song.

I recall reading somewhere that the group was made up of a bunch of Swedish journalists, but that's not evident on their wiki page.

In any case, this is one of those tunes that could truly be considered a "one hit wonder", destined to show up as a link in backwoods blogs twenty years on.

WHALE- HOBO HUMPIN' SLOBO BABE by noriko75

Saigon Sunday - Beck "New Pollution"

Saigon Sunday - Stone Roses "I am the Resurrection"

With the announcement of the Coachella lineup this week and the surprising inclusion of the Stone Roses as headliner on Friday, I thought I'd lay this one down. I wonder if they'll open with this one?

Saigon Sunday - New Order "Perfect Kiss"

Here's a pretty austere clip from New Order for "Perfect Kiss"... I like that they actually played in the video instead of doing it all canned. When you shoot the video in the studio I guess you can get away with that.

You could argue that this version is better than the single cut which also appears on Substance.

Saigon Sunday - Talking Heads "Burning Down the House"

For Xmas I got a copy of David Byrne's new book, How Music Works. Not quite a biography, but an examination of music through the lens of his career. Great read so far.

Saigon Sunday - Bronski Beat

Here's an iconic new wave song with a music video that proved in the early days of MTV that there was not only artistic merit to the art form but also that these silly vids could have a message too.

Saigon Sunday - Papa's Day edition

Torontoites and Canadians out there will recognize this as the theme to the now defunct NewMusic, a show that totally blew my mind as a kid.

In any case, this track goes back to 1981 and could broadly be defined as 'post-punk', though the group has not much to do with any other artist you would typically find in that category. "Punk-funk" kind of fits, but that really doesn't do the song or the group justice. Whatever the label you feel needs to be applied, it's a pretty good song, notable for being instrumental, funky, and absolutely unique.

Saigon Sunday - Peter Gabriel + David Bowie

"Games Without Frontiers", featuring Kate Bush on backing vocals, is an interesting clip that parallels Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" in style and some of the provocative imagery. Both tracks were from established artists dealing with the challenges of the "new wave" of alternative bands and the nascent music video industry.

These tracks are both from 1980, but for the most part that's where my little comparison ends. It's interesting to see these two videos back to back and think about where music videos started out, that is, emphasis on the 'video' medium, and the way both artists played with the technology that was available at the time.

Saigon Sunday - The Fall

I've probably used this one for Victoria Day before... but what the hell. The Fall always deserves another play. Great Kinks cover.

Saigon Sunday

So 80s, so Canadian, so awesome.

Saigon Sunday pt 2

I decided I wouldn't leave on a sad note, so here's the obvious track to play today, a Canadian 80s classic:

Saigon Sunday

Here's a long lost track from Toronto's 1980s Queen West music scene, "Nyet Nyet Soviet". B.B. Gabor was kind of a thing back in 1980, getting nominated for a Juno and winning a "U-Know" (CFNY's piss-take on the Junos at the time, since revived as the CASBY awards). He was never able to repeat the success of his self titled album, and died of an apparent suicide in 1990.

Saigon Sunday

Saigon Sunday

Saigon Sunday

Yesterday I picked up The Stranglers' Greatest Hits from the library... they're a band that I've heard about before, but never really got in to... and holy crap I'm glad I picked up that disc... check out this great song, that I've known for a long time, but only today learned the name of, it's the "Skin Deep", and check out this clip from Top of the Pops... it's obviously canned, so it's basically the same as the studio version... enjoy.

The Pogues - Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

I'm sorting through some tunes, and making an iTunes playlist of this Edge 1002 songs of all time chart from the turn of the millenium. It has an ultimate playlist feel, and the fact that it cuts off at 1999 makes some of the poorer tracks worth listening to for kitsch/retro value.

But apparently, I don't every song in the universe after all... this one comes in at 111 on the list:



This song is a lot of fun, and will make a great addition to my collection. Hearing this definitely makes me want to get unlazy and start doing those Saigon Sunday posts again... In the coming weeks/months, if I decide to keep plugging holes in the chart, I will share more songs that I come across. A bunch of these tunes are extremely tough to come by, through legal methods or otherwise. Some of these cuts were mid-80s vinyl tracks that were never released in CD format. I may end up spending a fortune on imported and rare CDs on eBay though...

Return of Spirit of the Edge?

On Queen Street West there are a bunch of posters on the lamp posts advertising the return of the Spirit of the Edge, aka Saigon Sunday, aka one of my favourite radio programs of all time. 

The Edge-CFNY website doesn't mention the show, and it still lists the Dr Drew radio show as holding the Sunday night slot.  However, the poster says Lori Alan is the host, and she doesn't appear on the host list on the website. 

Going to the live to air show was a university staple for me, and those nights were about the extent of  the "clubbing" I've done.  Part of me wants to check out the event just to see if any of the old crew were there... those nights certainly could draw interesting crowds for damn sure.

I think bringing this show back would also help soften the blow of losing long time personality Alan Cross... but that could just be me, oh so tired of hearing Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, or Nirvana every single waking hour of the broadcast day.  Those are fine, fine bands, but let's cut down on their play, you know... maybe ten percent?

Anyway, back to the point - Sunday night will be exciting for me if I tune in at 9pm and hear a song like this instead of the Foo Fighters....

Saigon Sunday

From the awesome Stop Making Sense concert film - check out "Life During Wartime" by the Talking Heads: