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Sometimes you need a little more to get you going on a Monday morning. ‘Stacked Actors’ by the Foo Fighters is one of those songs that creeps up on you all nicey nicey and then BAM suddenly you’re in the middle of one of the fattest (phattest?) guitar riffs known to man.

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I saw the Foos play ‘Stacked Actors’ live at the first festival I ever went to (Reading 2002, thank you very much) and where before I’d always found myself taking very little notice of the song when playing through the album, it suddenly made sense. I was sitting on the shoulders of a rather tall man and for the first time, I could actually see over the heads of people at a gig. When the chorus kicked it was amazing to see this sea of tens of thousands of people all jumping like one excited, sweaty, muddy mass. (Here’s the point where I’d drop in the photo I took, but the developers decided to send me someone else’s Paris photos instead of my festival ones!)

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So yes, it’s Monday, and that’s a bit crap. But have a little bounce at your desk and let Mr Grohl & Co aid you in your arse kicking today.

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KS

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I couldn’t find any videos of Nina Simone actually performing the song so I thought I’d use a little bit of creative license and use the above video of Mike Roberts and Laura Glaess dancing to the song at Midwest Lindy Fest 2010 instead. Seeing this routine on YouTube was actually the first time I heard this song. My only regret is I didn’t hear it sooner (…it’s been on repeat ever since)

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‘Since I Fell For You’ is another one of those blues / jazz standards I’ve been spoon-feeding you lately. It was written by Buddy Johnson in 1945 and first performed my him and his sister.

Take a listen and you’ll see why I picked Nina’s version over theirs. It may be the original but it certainly ain’t the best.

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The song’s been very popular with female vocalists over the years — Eartha Kitt, Etta James and Gladys Knight all had a go. But it’s Dinah Washington’s version most singers refer back to. It’s bluesier than the original but still clean, precise and almost matter of fact in the delivery. Listen to the way she sings the “you” in the line “since I fell for you”…

…See what I mean?

And now picture her singing it. While Nina’s rattling around an empty house, singing the words into the dark as she runs a finger along the lapel of the jacket her lover’s left behind (you know, probably), Dinah’s up on a spot-lit stage crooning the words into one of those old-style mics as the diners in the jazz club glance up from their pâté for a second to watch her shimmy, then mumble something about the “mellow notes” in the wine they’re drinking. And that, right there, is why I wanted to use the video of the dancers — they hear the sadness and also the conflict in Nina’s voice and become its physical embodiment — being drawn together but pushing each other away. It’s really quite beautiful.

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KS

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‘Stormy Weather’ was written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler for the 1933 Cotton Club Revue. Here’s a nice little history biscuit from the BBC Radio 2 website:

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“[Koehler’s] phrases mirrored the roots of jazz and blues, so lines such as ‘all I do is pray/that the Lord will let me/ walk in the sun once more’ hark back to the language of the black slave spiritual.

The song had been intended for Cab Calloway and his band but he had left the Cotton Club to be replaced by Duke Elllington who gave the song to Ethel Waters.

In the meantime Harold Arlen himself had been singing the song with the Leo Reisman Band and Reisman was so impressed with the version he released a recording of the song a few months before the revue opened, giving the composer a rare hit both as a writer and performer.”

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The song has since been covered by a multitude of artists and has become somewhat of a jazz staple — you might’ve heard versions by Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller and Ella Fitzgerald, to name but a few. Billie Holiday’s version isn’t necessarily the most well known one, but to me, it’s the version that brings out the disappointment in the lyrics the most - “stormy weather since my man and I ain’t together, keeps raining all the time.”

Billie’s vocal is just heart-breaking. When she sings “just can’t get my poor old self together. I’m weary all the time” you have absolutely no doubt that she means every word she says. Sublime.

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KS

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Some awesome things about this video:

• Have you ever seen anyone appear so creepily at a keyboard as Billy does at 5 seconds in?
• EYES at 1:01 (sort of like one of these)
• What on earth is that cut at 1:27?! Or the editing at 1:48?! Ohhh the 80s…
• Look at the guitarist’s face at 1:35. He means it. He really means it.
• “STOP!”

It’s also a bloody brilliant song. Enjoy!

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KS 

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Today’s pick is a Led Zeppelin cover by everyone’s favourite radio-friendly rockers, Train. 

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Now I know what you’re thinking, and no, I’ve not been at the crazy juice. Of course, nothing can beat the Zep original, but if you have a listen (go on, it’s OK…) it’s actually a very respectable cover. Pat Monahan’s voice is really very well suited to the song and it’s also a bit bloody good.

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Interestingly, Led Zeppelin never performed ‘Ramble On’ in its entirety until 2007, which means (according to the date on the video above) Train actually got there first.

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KS