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I’ve been trying to get a copy of The Partridge Family’s first album since last summer, around the time that I bought the first season of the show on DVD. It took me a long time to track it down but I finally got it this week. It’s already one of my most prized possessions. I haven’t listened to anything else since it arrived so this is definitely the soundtrack of my week. If you don’t appreciate ridiculous 70s pop, you’re just too cool for me and I can’t do anything about that.

It was painful picking just one song from The Partridge Family Album but I finally settled on “Bandala”. This song is the main reason that I had to have that specific album rather than one of the greatest hits collections available. When you hear it, you’ll understand.

“Bandala” is featured in the season one episode, “Soul Club”, guest starring none other than Lou Gossett, Jr. and the late, great Richard Pryor. There’s some wacky mix-up and The Partridge Family is accidentally booked at a club in the Detroit ghetto! Richard Pryor and Lou Gossett play the club owners who were expecting The Temptations, not some goofy white family. But if they don’t make some money, they’ll be forced to hand their club over to a badass loanshark and that’s just not cool, man. Of course The Partridge Family saves the day by organizing a block party to raise the money that’ll save the club. Shirley gets the permits, Laurie helps gather food donations from local shop owners, and Danny recruits members of the “Afro-American Cultural Society” (who are sort of like a non-violent Black Panthers who really like white people, suitable for prime-time family television) to help out with the music.

Meanwhile, Keith has got this new song brewing in his head and “it’s sort of an Afro thing”. (Yes, he really says that, I swear.) I guess he’s inspired by the environment, so he and Richard Pryor get down with some musical partnership.

I don’t want to ruin the end for anyone but it ends up pretty well all around. There’s some dancing in the streets - because that’s just what it’s like in the ghetto - and everyone gets happy.

It’s really easy to make fun of shows like The Partridge Family, but I was oddly impressed by the first season. I used to watch it when I was younger on Nickelodeon or something, but I didn’t remember much about it. I’ve always been more of a Brady Bunch kind of girl. I’ve heard that the later seasons cut out the political commentary of the first season, which is a shame. In the first season, Laurie sees herself as very politically concious and is constantly protesting something or other - but her family also pokes fun at her willingness to protest just for protest’s sake, which is bizarrely realistic for such a goofy show. “Soul Club” actually touches on racism and “My Son, The Feminist” points out hypocrisies of militant feminism. The way they deal with issues is shallow and simplistic, of course, but you never saw any of the Bradys in a ghetto, did you?

Anyway, my point is: I think we should all just take a moment and appreciate The Partridge Family. Yes, I know that most of them didn’t even sing or play an instrument and I know they’re corny. But the songs are some of the most perfect pop songs ever and, besides, David Cassidy is just too adorable.

   The Partridge Family - Bandala

The eyes of lovers of music everywhere haven’t been this fixed on Canada since John Lennon went there and demanded peace from a bed in a hotel in Montreal in 1969. Ok so, there was the occasional Alanis and there’s the Avril phenomenon. But now every kid with a maple leaf on their beanie playing a guitar is looked at with genuine interest, ever since bands like The Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade turned out to be such an exciting breath of fresh air in the indie music world. I am here to perpetuate this trend and jump on the bandwagon while I ask you to cast your eyes on yet another band from the land of Canadian bacon! (I’ve recently learned the Canadians call it ham.)

They Shoot Horses Don’t They? have a weird name taken from the title of a weird movie from the sixties and make rather weird music on their debut album with the weird name Boo Hoo Hoo Boo. Weird or mindblowingly wonderful? I’d say both in equal measures. They have a horn section, that at times seems to have played at many a bar or bat mitzvah … on speed. There’s indistinct clanging going on - did I hear an anvil? - and there are often many voices singing at once. Though not all the voices are necessarily singing the same song. They sound like the lyrical thoughts of a schizophrenic clown who sometimes listens to punk and Modest Mouse and the occasional New Orleans-based brass band on fast forward. If all these qualities do not sound like anything you’re looking for in your New Favorite Band, I would like to ask: Who is? Nobody sane could ever come up with the noise They Shoot Horses Don’t They? make, but this is a kind of insanity I would happily skip taking my pills for. Oh, and if you happen to have some time on your hands, while you’re not listening to They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, go watch or re-watch They Shoot Horses Don’t They? the classic movie from 1969. I know I said it’s weird, but much like the band, it’s that good kind of weird … starring Jane Fonda!

When I was about 12, I started to rummage through my uncle’s CD collection and “borrow” CDs. He has a lot of those “Remember The Sixties” type CDs. I know, they’re crap. Almost all of them have two or three good songs on them and then a whole bunch of filler, but there was one in particular that I listened to a lot. It was a 2 CD set and it was near perfect. If only it didn’t have Paul Young’s horrible cover of The Everly Brothers’ “Love Hurts” on it. They could have chosen versions by Roy Orbison, Emmylou & Gram and, oh yeah, The Everly Brothers!! But noooo, Paul was clearly the way to go. But I digress. It had - among many, many others - Louis Armstrong, Sam Cooke and The Shirelles on it.

I know that The Supremes are the reigning queens of Girl Groups and I have to admit that The Shirelles are less polished than The Supremes, but they’re so much more interesting to listen to because of it. The lead singer sounds like she just had a shot of liquor when she sings and the back up singers are not the best vocalists I’ve ever heard, but when they all come together it works beautifully. There is one song that they did that is made to be sung in front of a mirror with a hairbrush-microphone. It kept popping in my head last week because it is also THE perfect, uber-romantic Valentine’s song. Even though I am, of course, way too cynical to go along with that horrible corporate sponsored holiday … of luuuuuurve. Sigh.

   The Shirelles - Dedicated To The One I Love

This is my first New Band Day entry and I’ve been really excited about it. But then I started to think about it and I got a little scared. There’s just too much great music right now to choose from. So I’ve decided to let my own obsessiveness make the decision for me.

I am a record label’s dream. For someone that posts the occassional mp3, I’m not actually so big on downloading music. I love eMusic with a passion, I’ve bought a few things from iTunes, and I have a list of blogs that I check for new stuff every Sunday. Even so, I always prefer to buy than download. I like CDs, I like the artwork and liner notes, I like holding the case while I listen to something brand new. I might listen to something on the internet to see if I like it but, if it’s good, I always go buy the real thing.

But Good Shoes are so good that I’ve broken my own rule. I came across them somehow and I just can’t get enough. I’ve downloaded just about anything I can find and, trust me, I will eventually buy everything I can find. I’m especially obsessed with “Never Meant To Hurt You” - I’ve actually woken up with it running through my head. If you like Bloc Party, The Futureheads, or just good music of any kind, you really need to check them out. You can visit their official site here, but be sure to listen to some of their songs over at their myspace page.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that you can listen to Good Shoes’ XFM Session here.

Let me just say right now: I’m sick. There’s snot and coughing and irrational shifts between hot and cold and it’s just not pretty. I’m a little emotional and feeling a little resentful towards Valentine’s Day.

It’s become a bit of a Generation X/Y cliché to bitch about Valentine’s Day and claim we hate it. We’re all too cool and cynical for romantic goop. I actually like goop, but I do have a problem with this:

This bear stands for everything I find offensive about this holiday. I want to choke him with my bear (haha) hands. These gifts are not romantic and definitely do not show that someone cares. If someone gave this to me, I would assume they don’t care all that much and just grabbed something off the shelf at Walmart at the last minute. Not to mention: what on earth would you do with it?? Everyone knows it’ll just sit around until enough time has passed that you don’t feel too guilty throwing it out.

The most romantic Valentine’s Day I ever had didn’t involve a single gift. The Guy and I always spent our time together in clubs and bars with a group of people. For the one Valentine’s Day we were together, we stayed in together for the first time and rented movies. There were no presents or flowers or cards in red envelopes. It was lovely (even if he did turn out to be useless and evil).

The things that are actually sweet usually aren’t pink and heart-shaped. Here’s a song that I think is incredibly sweet, about love and friendship - the way it should be. I’m going back to bed now, enjoy your Valentine’s Day.

   Diana Ross - When We Grow Up

We’ve done some reorganization at 100b, trying to find some direction in this quick, cruel blogging world. (Or we were just trying to find something a little more interesting to focus on.) Tam has already introduced New Band Day, and I’m here to tell you: the fun don’t stop there, folks! I hereby declare Friday to be Soundtrack Day, in which Tam and I give you a piece from the soundtrack of our lives. It might be a song that we couldn’t stop listening to that week, or that is the source of a musical memory, or that is just something we can’t remember ever not listening to. And, gentle readers (if there are any), we welcome your to share your soundtracks, too.

In honor of Rogue Wave and the cover they did at their Paradiso show earlier this week, I bring you Buddy Holly’s “Everyday”. Rogue Wave did Buddy proud, and reminded me of how much that song has been a part of my life. The Stand By Me soundtrack was very popular in my house growing up, being a child of the 80s, and I adored it. So much that my mother would sing “Everyday” to me when she was feeling goofy. When I was old enough to get a whole Buddy Holly cassette, I stole my mother’s and loved every minute of it. About 7ish years later, I had a huge crush on a boy who was also my best friend at the time. He went away for the summer and I listened to nothing but that tape the whole. summer. long. I wrote him a notebook full of letters while listening to it (which I never gave him, by the way) and I wrote out the lyrics in there, too.

When I, um, grew up (and that boy moved away for good), I started to learn as much as I could about music history. I read everything I could find about Buddy and it completely broke my heart. Is there anything sadder than a 22-year-old who died in a tragic accident just because he wanted some clean laundry and somewhere warm to sleep?

At least we still get to enjoy his wonderful songs, and they just make your heart fill all warm and full of hope. Enjoy!

   Buddy Holly - Everyday

We here at 100b hate watching yet another New Band fall apart because of stupid reasons like lack of funding/support. I know half the reason people listen to indie bands is because they feel like they’ve found that hidden gem in a world of mass-produced crapola. But when I truly love a band I want them to be able to live comfortably off that thing they do that thrills me so, even if that means the secret is out. Enter New Band Day! We’re hoping that making these bands part of the bloggeration will give them at least one more fan. OK, we might not think big but see, that one person might have three friends and they might have three friends. Yeah, it’s basically a big Pay It Forward rip off … but plagiarism works!

The first band I want the world to embrace is Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. I have to admit that I’d heard of this band earlier in 2005, but I kept forgetting what their name was … I knew in the back of my mind I should check out this new long-name-band but was it ‘You Still Rock Gorbachov’ or ‘We Love You Stalin, We Do’? Well, once the name stuck, I fell in love with them so I ordered their 2005 release Broom the other day and at the end of my purchase it said: your order will be shipped soon … probably by our drummer. Even though the CD hasn’t arrived yet, it has only been a few days. I’m not worried about buyer’s remorse, because I’ve had a taste from the clips and songs on their official site and an additional four full songs on their (what else) myspace page. I especially love the happy melancholy of “I Am Warm And Powerful”. They make catchy, surprisingly endearing and diverse rock music and are really worth telling three friends about. So go on people, give the drummer some work!

I know It’s not exactly breaking news anymore, but I was pretty bummed out when I saw that Special Needs / The Needs are no more. Since they only released three singles, the panic isn’t exactly widespread, but it should be. But then again, why should we pay attention to a band that actually sounds a little different? Not when we could spend more time kissing the Editors’ ass, even though they totally ripped off Interpol.

Sorry, I got distracted. Anyway, The Needs (though I have to admit, I like Special Needs better) did this garage-meets-50s-pop thing, and it was fabulous. It sounds like they had some seriously good reasons to split up, though:

“[Guitarist Andrew] Pearson said: ‘There are so many reasons for this and this is only my version of why we have finished. There obviously were some problems within the band between members. This is not anything to do directly with why we have done this, and we will all be friends I’m sure. A dark collection of individuals stopped me wanting to do this, namely the fucking drugs wankers and stupid people who think they’re Nancy Spungen. And everything went rather grim since we got signed for whatever reason.’”
(quote from nme.com)

Well, I’m not sure exactly what that means, but it can’t possibly be good. I hope they’re all happier now. And I hope they all move on to bigger and even better musical endeavors.

However, I’m calling for The Needs’ album to be released anyway. We need a petition or something. It won’t do any harm to let us hear how great it is, will it? In the meantime, go check out The Needs’ possibly official site, scoop up the mp3s they’ve got over there, and make yourself a fake Needs CD.