The lyrical theme of �6060-842� seems pretty mundane for the B-52s. Tina goes to the ladies room, sees a phone number scrawled on the wall, and so decides to ring it. Hmm� doesn�t sound like it�s gonna be a tale the measure of �the time our car was hijacked by the devil� and the like. Still this IS the B-52s, and recognisably so, �if you�d like a very nice time, just give this number a call� reads the unlikely graffiti. So something must happen. The band are optimistic too, bouncing along excitedly on a jumpy new wave rhythm. Tina, we reckon, is much like the band. She lives for wild parties and crazy adventures. This 6060-842 could be just the ticket. �Oh my gawd! I�m gonna give that there number a ring. You see if I don�t!� So she drops a dime in the phone slot and, �prays she gets the line.� She�s biting her lip, stabbing her nails into her finger tips, �come on� come ON!!!�

But pause a moment. Is she really so na�ve? Does she really think a �really nice time� awaits her? In the gnarled and weather beaten hands of a social realist singer-songwriter, the number 6060-842 would lead to abuse, to prostitution, and ultimately, to death. In the hands of the B-52s? I don�t know, you tell me. A debauched toga party in a 1950s vision of the future�? Well, it�s neither. It�s just a brilliant anti-climax. You see Tina and the B-52a might be deranged, but the world they live in is not. It�s bloody typical. She dials 6060-842, and can�t get through! �The number�s been disconnected�� monotones the operator. But Tina won�t accept this, no, and neither will the band. They can�t end the track with Tina accepting the disappointment with a sigh of weary resignation, �ah well, nevermind� maybe next time.� No, no, this anti-climax has worked them up into an angry frenzy. Ricky Wilson vents his frustration with viscious slashes of electric guitar whilst Tina just keeps dialing and dialing, and getting rebuffed and rebuffed, �HELLO!!!� �sorry�� The track probably ends with them all smashing up the phone box. A superb, and much over-looked track.

There is something magic about a song like �All Men Play On Ten� in this post-Spinal Tap Metal world. Such an earnest rock anthem, in such an irony saturated market� You�ve got to have respect for Manowar. Is it a mark of defiance or of ignorance and stupidity? Hard to tell. Maybe both. But then this song is essentially about doing things their own way, and not listening to anybody. So who cares anyway? Well, it�s worth listening to Eric Adams for 4 minutes at least. He has a message for us all. He�s no puritanical, know-it-all, he�s a reformed character preaching a rock�n�roll gospel. Believe it or not brothers, he too has fallen. There was a time when he did it for the money, yes that�s right, he sold his soul to the loud music-hating devil. And the devil said hmmm Mr Adams, for your money I have some things I need you to do for me, adjustments as it were. Eric said, well okay, what do you suggest? The devil demanded that he turn down his amps, �why be proud, don�t play so loud, be like us and get a sound that�s real THIN�. OK, I reckon I could do that, just a bit, said Eric, a little put out. But the demands didn�t end there, Eric was pinched and plucked for his silver dollar, �wear a polyester suit, act happy, look cute, get a haircut and buy small gear.� And inevitably it all got too much. Eric�s no pigeon weaver, and he got real mad, and he turned to the devil and said, �HOLD IT, RIGHT THERE!� And good for him. For this is a great track. Very catchy.

A nasty/under appreciated gem from David Bowie's Berlin period, "Beauty and The Beast" is sheer perfection/pure malice in musical form. Ominous squibs of sound coalesce around an almost crocodilian groove and Robert Fripp's hissing, poisonous guitar line. Then Bowie makes one his most memorable vocal entrances with a sound somewhere between a croon and a scream. Things just get nastier from there - David playing the hipster, killer android on the lead vocal, while the backgrounds get all down and dirty on chorus. Then, as if he's suddenly come his senses after committing some atrocious act, Bowie howls over the break: "I want you to believe me!/I wanted to be good!/I wanted no distractions!/Like every good boy should!" - before sliding back into the sociopathic sleekness of the last verse. The genius of the tune is that it suggests all manner of violence/bad shit without actually describing any act of mayhem. Therefore the imagination runs riot. A brilliant/evil track.

The prototypical Mardi Gras "Black Indian" song. A song as exciting & diverse as New Orleans itself.

"I'm gonna put on an iron shirt/
An' chase Satan out of Earth.
I'm gonna put on an iron shirt/
And chase the Devil out of Earth.
I'm gonna send him to outer space/
To find another race.
I'm gonna send him to outer space/
To find another race.

Satan is the evilest man/
But him can choke sit on a man.
So when I check him my life's in hand/
And if him flip I gone with him hand.

I'm gonna put on an iron shirt/
An' chase Satan out of Earth.
I'm gonna put on an iron shirt/
And chase the Devil out of Earth.
I'm gonna send him to outer space/
To find another race.
I'm gonna send him to outer space/
To find another race.

Him have to drop him fork and run/
Him can't stand up to Jah Jah's son.
Him have to left here with him gun/
Take off with him bomb."

gotta love a bit of max romeo. great trippy reggae song. wonderful production by lee "scratch" perry, too.

A bewitching song about a young woman who, to win the hand of a handsome knight, does her rival sister in. The dead girl then comes back to haunt the �black-haired bride� as a harp fashioned from her breast bone and three locks of her hair. �Cruel� may seem too kindly a description of a girl who when her sister pleads, �Oh Sister, Sister, let me live, and all that�s mine I�ll surely give� says, �It�s your own true love I have and more, but thou shalt never come ashore� before abandoning her body to the rough North Sea. Cruel? Should the sister therefore be scalded for her little� transgression? She�s an evil and monstrous sister, surely? But then this is centuries past, a time when sibling murder and human harps were commonplace. I am not likely to understand in this more civilised 21st century. Which may be why the kids don�t really dig British folk music anymore, or the mighty Pentangle. And it�s a crying shame because this is a stunning track, hauntingly sung by Jacqui McShee. I hesitate to use the term �masterpiece� in case that great oracle of musicaltaste.com, fmars, overhears and tells me that I�m wrong.

This belgian artist was very popular up to the second half of the 70's I believe.

I got to really enjoy most of his tunes because that is what my dad would listen on his 195? reel to reel.

I was able to find most of his albums online.

Very good channel separation.

Enjoy

The Pharcyde poured a lot more into their second album "LabCabinCalifornia", a much more grown-up album, than their first. They are very talented lyricists: "Everytime I step to the microphone I put my soul on two-inch reels that I don't even own"... "You know I'll keep on rappin to tha break of dawn eventhough it is my soul that I do not even own."

Ever felt there was a hole in your life that only a religious ventriloquist's dummy could fill? Then look no further. One of pop's bona-fide eccentrics, Marcy Tigner, voices Little Marcy in a thoroughly winsome way. The song, nay the whole album, encourages all young children to renounce the devil. However, if the devil were to see the scarily-bad drawing of Little Marcy on the cover, he would correctly deduce that no child is likely to listen to the ravings of a freaky end-of-the-pier doll voiced by an even stranger adult woman.

"Marcy wants you all to know how happy she is singing songs about Jesus" relate the sleevenotes. And, gee Marcy, we sure are glad to hear them!

Please don't think I recommended this song simply to mock it. I genuinely think it's a priceless piece of recorded gold and am more than pleased this site, and the world, is big enough to accommodate special talents like that of Marcy Tigner.

Out of Waco, Texas.

Super organ led (Herbie Hancock no less) Swinging jazz dance number... Buy the album, if only for this track and the Brilliant cover!

A musical excursion through psychedelia,hip hop,country and jazz,in a compact slice of sample rich mayhem,uses Them "I Can Only Give You Everything" as its pivotal riff along side typically obscure Beck lyrics and Stooges drumming,these shambolic ingredients cook a juicy mean groove.

Starts out quietly, acoustic guitar playing the theme, joined quickly by discreet electric piano and stand-up bass, then Martyn's low, growly-yet-soulful voice starts repeating the chorus ("I don't wanna know about evil/Only want to know about love") like a mantra. Halfway through, the rhythm section kicks in, and you find yourself singing along to said mantra. Highly effective and very memorable.

With the likes of Buzzsaw by The Turtles and Dance With The Devil by Cozy Powell, Groovin' With Mr. Bloe is one of my favourite late 60's-early 70's groovy "novelty" pop instrumentals.
Beginning with a tight drum beat that carries on throughout the song and followed by one of the fattest basslines ever, this is a real dancefloor gem for hip crowds. Best of all is the harmonica lead by Mr. Bloe himself, a session musician by the name of Harry Pitch. Groovin'...became a surprise top ten hit but the best credit to the song is that it allegedly still enjoys club play by Richard Searling, the legendary northern soul deejay.

The Devil has the best tunes they say. God's got a fair few mind. Witness this. Creamy orchestrations and big supple breakbeats meshed together artfully with vocals that are never too mannered. Production is in the familiar axlerod vein. Lovely.

NO ONE ELSE could belt it out like that. When she finishes the first chorus,instead of reprising the melody for a second time through, she simply belts a single note (a high C) for an entire 32-bar chorus. Her voice COMMANDED audiences the world over to applaud that song. Celine Dion's got nothing on Ethel. Nothing!

Rocky and Bullwinkle (with the genuine cartoon voices) present what amounts to an audio vaudeville act in less than 2 minutes. An intro from Rocky, Bullwinkle does a quick song, the duo do some standup patter and Bullwinkle rings it all down with a juggling act. Sight gags in audio!

I cannot say enough good things about Blossom Dearie! She is truly one of those performers that everyone should have in their collection. This song is perfect for her singing style and she runs with it. You can almost envision her throwing her arms up in resignation to the fact that love is a pain but none of us can live without it.
This track is pulled from Blossom's only album for Capital Records. She is backed by an orchestra rather than the usual small jazz combo which better suits her intimate style, but she shines nonetheless.

�Maxwell�s Silver Hammer� is my least favourite Beatles� song, and my nomination for Paul McCartney�s worst, most annoying composition ever (it�s a jaunty number about a homicidal maniac with a hammer in case you�re suffering from post-trauma memory loss since you last heard it). But anyway, that�s a debate that could just run and run (I�ll leave it to the BBC to compile the public�s top 100). Here�s not the place. But, BUT, this is musicaltaste.com, and there is one moment of utter sublimity, in that misery of a song, a moment of incredible transcendent beauty. That very last chord. The final chord is indescribable wonder (it�s a D I think). Every time I hear that I just feel like the dark clouds of evil have lifted, the ring has been destroyed, and everything is gonna be alright for me and the hobbits. I remember having a really vicious fight with my first wife and �Maxwell�s Silver Hammer� came on the radio and when we heard that final chord we just stopped, looked at one another and we both knew that from then on everything would be alright forever.

A grandiose harpsichord entrance gives way to almost choirboy melody regerding our lack of concern over this planet of ours , add to this a vaudeville waltz time middle eight sung through a megaphone and we are firmly in the land of strange though not just for the sake of it . Weirdly wonderful and a Top 10 hit as well

Ah yes.... You know him alright, the tragic lounge singer from "The Valley Of The Dolls"! And the schmaltz is transmitted directly into this version of the top 10 smash with deft precision! This track absolutely kicks ass, and is worth the 25 cents you'll probably have to pay for this work of art! The rest of the record is pretty hum-drum,nothing to sniff at though,especially for fans of swingin' supper-club jazz. Fans of the movie will dig it as well,if not just for the cover,which looks like a still from the film with him in a tuxedo,gripping the microphone with a devilish sneer!

Shirley Manson sung this Grateful Dead cover for the premiere of the second season of 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles', a show on which she had a recurring role. Manson takes the country-styled song and makes it feel totally different: cold, darkly triumphant and gloriously evil in an impersonal sense.

this song, made by the zappa-esque belgian band, the evil superstars, is more zappa-esque then zappa would ever get.

it feels like a huge record store collapsing and, in the process, blending all kinds of style elements in a composition of pure pop-mayhem. the song sums up a dozen of genres at supersonic rate (such as death metal, rock, crooning and even jazz) but never falls apart.
the music is perfect, played by talented musicians who try to sound like it's their first time handling a guitar or drum kit.
but, the one thing that makes this whole thing sound like it does are the vocals and absurd (or cheezy?) lyrics by the lead singer mauro pawlowski, for example:
"HE IS SOMEKIND OF A BAD GUY BUT WHEN HE READS THE PAPERS NOWADAYS HE HAS TO HOLD BACK THE KEROSINE IN HIS EYES SOMEWHERE IN A FORTRESS HE HIDES HIS MISTRESS I'M TALKING 'BOUT A PLANKTON EATING ROBOTCOW IN A CARDBOARD DRESS"----need i say more?
if you want to hear free jazz going pop, then check out this one!
nice introduction link: http://www.deadbeattown.com/bands/superstars.htm

I think this is one of Korn's first songs to get airplay, although most people I know don't remember it. It came out during the Grunge era of the 90's.

This is not a serious, meaningful song, but it is fun! How could you not like to hear your favorite childhood nursery rhymes translated into a hardcore rock song? It's a great idea!

After singing somewhat diabolical versions of "Ring-Around-A-Rosy", "London Bridge Is Falling Down," "Mary Had A Little Lamb," etc...Jonathan Davis leads us into the main chorus:

"Nursery rhymes are said, verses in my head
Into my childhood they're spoonfed
Hidden violence revealed, darkness that seems real
Look at the pages that cause all this evil"

The most interesting thing about this song is that each rhyme has a unique style, kind of like songs within a song; and it all fits together neatly.

Quite unlike most of Nina Simone�s work the beautifully smooth jazz of �please don�t let me be misunderstood� and sometimes slightly sleazy orchestral numbers �feeling good�, �I put a spell on you�.

For me, Sinnerman� is out on its own, a 10+ minute opus, based around a rolling piano and double bass and often frantic cymbal accompanying Nina�s rueful voice tinged with desperation as she recounts the tale. Searching for somewhere to hide, from what is not explained, a man first runs to the rocks, the river, and the Lord, who all refuse him, the music booming louder and with more urgency following each rejection. The Lord even tells him to go to the waiting Devil, and the situation looks bleak, until the rhythm running alongside him suddenly clatters into a tree, and the sinner throws himself before the Lord once more, �Don�t you see me prayin�?� he cries, �Not nearly enough� replies the Lord, until the chasing evil presumably sniffs him out, the drums and bass pick themselves up and we�re off and running again, into the sunset together.

A beautiful, stripped-down acoustic ballad, the final song on Travis' finest album. This song has one of the most amazing chorus' I've ever heard, a comment on the messages of music in life: "There is no design for life/There's no devil's haircut in my mind/There is not a wonderwall to climb or step around" Smart, and lovely.

it's about time i recommended some vreeswijk. after all he's one of my very favourite artsts, and pretty obscure outside scandinavia. it's hard to decide wich song to post, as i guess you'd have to be scandinavian to enjoy the masterful, deceptivly simple lyrics. the best way to describe the man is as kind of a swedish crossbred of serge gainsbourg, tom waits and bob dylan.
this is one of his best-known songs, a qusasi-joyous melancholy number about death and hopelessness.
i once heard someone say something that summed up the power of this guy pretty well: "I don�t understand swedish, however I do understand Cornelis Vreeswijk"


the best place to start if you're interested n an initial taste, is probably the new 2-cd set. if you're like me, youll soon advance to the original lp's and the 5-cd set "master cees memoarer".

lyrics:
Somliga g�r med trasiga skor, s�g vad beror det p�?
Gud fader som i himmelen bor kanske vill ha det s�.
Gud fader som i himmelen bor blundar och sover s�tt. Vem bryr sig om ett par trasiga skor n�r man �r gammal och tr�tt?
Vem bryr sig om hur dagarna g�r? Dom vandrar som dom vill.
Medborgare, om ett hundra �r finns du ej l�ngre till.
D� har n�n annan tagit din stol, det vet du inte av.
Du k�nner varken regn eller sol ner i din m�rka grav.
Vem bryr sig om hur n�tterna far? Jag bryr mig inte ett sp�r. Bara jag f�r ha mitt ansikte kvar dolt i min �lsklings h�r.
Jag �r en tvivelaktig figur, duger ej mycket till. Bakom ett h�rn st�r d�den p� lur, han tar mig n�r han vill.
Somliga g�r med trasiga skor tills dom har slutat g�. Dj�vulen som i helvetet bor f�r sig ett gott skratt d�
a very, very bad and rushed translation of the lyrics,most of the humor and finer points are lost but at least you'll know what's it about:

some walk around in bad shoes, say, why is is it so?
maybe the good lord up in the sky wants it that way.
the good lord up in the sky sleeps calmly now.
who cares about a pair of bad shoes when they are old and tired?
who cares how the days pass? they go the way the want.
fellow citizen, in a hundred years you will no longer exist.
someone else will have taken your chair, but you won't know about that.
you'll feel neither rain nor sun, down in your dark grave.
who cares how the nights pass? i don't care at all.
as long as i get to keep my my face tucked in my love's hair.
i'm a questionable character, not good for much.
behind a corner death lurks, he'll take me whenever he wants.
some walk around in bad shoes/ until hey walk no more
the devil, who lives down in the hell/ will have a good laugh then.

With the wild African rhythms, yelped back-up vocals and honky-tonk piano, this song is bizarre and crazed and lot of fun. Lyrically it's also very cool with Mick Jagger singing from the persona of a very gentlemanly and straightforward Satan. It's also incredibly timeless and influential. Listen to Outkast's recent album, or the Libertines, or the Music and you can hear shades of this song without a doubt.

This is one of the best songs by the Stones. A good rock songs with deep lyrics about the horrors of humanity, in the metaphor of the devil.

This is one of the best songs by the Stones. A good rock songs with deep lyrics about the horrors of humanity, in the metaphor of the devil.

Punk really was born in the sixties. This song, perhaps THE classic of its genre, oozes with energy and rage. The fuzz guitar sound is pure evil and when it comes in you just bless the stereophonic effect. Like The Velvet Underground, this song must've made a lot of people start a band.
The band wore black and had black instruments. They tuned their guitars a full step lower to make their sound more threatening. It worked. And all this back in '66.

The b-side of The Banshees' great/very successful cover of "Dear Prudence", and a great example of the band's perverse ability to generate b-sides on the odd afternoon off that where not only better than most bands' A-sides, but often better than most of the proper tracks from the Banshees' albums. (Thus, I can't recommend the "Downside Up" box set of the group's non-LP tracks highly enough.) This song is sleek, groovy, evil, paranoid funk, with Siouxsie at her most alluring/menacing. Tricky covered the song, thus acknowledging the impact of The Banshees on the Bristol trip-hop crew.

I heard lots of bad things about this song, like it was the devils work or something....actually it just demonstrates how he could turn his hand to pretty much anything. Electronic, mixed-up, too much going on but i think it works.

This is an amazing song. Even if you hate it, it's amazing. It sounds evil, and glorious, scary, and ecstatic, all so quickly and powerfully. I don't know how to describe how it sounds, other than a tad insane. And beautiful.

We all need a little EVIL in our lives. Hey, "evil" is "live" spelled backwards. So when you feel the Prince of Darkness invading your soul, when depravity oozes from your pores, when the sweet smell of brimstone tickles your nose hairs, put on this track and throw yourself into the arms of Beelzebub. Paradise be damned!!

The best "drag" performance by both Julie Andrews and Robert Preston in the film,'Victor / Victoria'.

"The Witch" was the Sonics' debut single, released on Etiquette, the Tacoma, WA-based label owned and operated by local hero Buck Ormsby, member of garage rock pioneers the Wailers, who are known for unearthing the obscure R&B song "Louie, Louie." Reworking the tunes of Little Richard and Bo Diddley, the Sonics worked the local teen-hop circuit as a rock & roll cover band until eventually coming up with some original material with "The Witch" and what would become the flip side to the single, "Psycho." After revamping the lineup, taking on various members of the Searchers, Gerry Roslie commandeered the vocal duties with a bracing blues shouter style that would become the group's trademark. "The Witch," roughly recorded in mono, is a brooding rocker based around a revved-up blues progression with quivering guitar and a basic sax line holding down a simple riff, drums kicking away in the background. Roslie belts his cautionary tale, sagely advising all to steer clear of "evil chicks," with vocal-chord-shredding wails: "So you know the little girl/Who's new in town/Well you better watch out now/Or she'll put you down/'Cause she's an evil chick/Say, she's the witch, oww!" The band barrels on, lacking any semblance of finesse, stomping into a tempo shift and doubling the speed as Roslie howls, "Well she walks around/Late at night/Most other people sleepin' tight/If you hear her knockin' on your door/You better say get away/Wha whoo!" Guitarist Andy Parypa lets loose a note-stumbling guitar solo in a style similar to Dave Davies of the the Kinks. "The Witch" would become a regional hit, receiving extensive airplay on the powerful Seattle AM station KJR, but the Sonics would never break nationally, most of the country not yet ready for the extremely aggressive attach of the group's rough-and-tumble music.
(AMG)

Lulu has inflicted on the world many crimes against music, politics and fashion but gets into the pearly gates of musical heaven on the basis of this track. One of her early Decca sides, it's raw and heartfelt, and (despite her tender age at the time) a mature, original view of love.

At first listen unavoidably eighties with an earnest post punk sensibility,percussive beats,synthesisers,and saxaphone .The devil is in the detail however and the song is augmented with a gorgeous flute refrain which enables an otherwise plodding melody to float on air and grant much more space to the melody and lyrics ,Almost psychedelic in its overall feel if that was possible in a future obsessed U.k of 1982.

Another one that's GREAT to sing along to! I often find myself humming the tune while I'm walking somewhere. It's a really fun song, and I found it a great introduction to goth music.

Digital Hardcore just sounds hopelessly dated now. Whether its the post-September 11th climate of antipathy to all things terrorist / anarchist, or those dusty 10,000bpm sounds, or Alec Empire's gradual metamorphosis into a footsoldier of nu-metal I guess we'll never know.

However, Patric C (the male half of EC8OR) escapes this near-universal damnation with his first album, probably because it was specifically retro in the first instance. The musical accompaniment to an imaginary computer game, The Horrible Plans Of Flex Busterman beeps and bursts at you like all the best simple timewasting game soundtracks did. This song, played toward the end of the album and meant to signify success at the digital challenge, is the finest of all; an inspired melody that is devilish in its simplicity and an absolutely perfect sound to come from a Commodore 64 or Amiga 500 (two of the "instruments" Patric C employed on this album).

It also retains a definite piss-taking attitude, which also stands it in good stead for longevity; the general earnestness of most Digital Hardcore is so difficult to stomach these days, and lightness of touch sets Patric C apart.