2797. Weirdos: Who? What? When? Where? Why?
2798. The Kitty Wells Story
2799. Mary Wells: Bye Bye Baby
2800. Mary Wells: Greatest Hits
2801. Mary Wells: My Guy
2802. Wendy and Lisa
2803. Wet Wet Wet: Popped In Souled Out
2804. Wham!: Make It Big
2805. Whispers: Love Is Where You Find It
2806. Whispers: "In the Raw" 12-inch
2807. Whispers: Greatest Hits
2808. Barry White's Greatest Hits
2809. Josh White
2810. Karyn White
2811. Chris Whiteley and Caitlin Hanford: Lovin' in Advance
Mixworthy: "What Love Has Joined Together," #2800.
A borderline pick for the sake of listing something; I recall that there was a Mary
Wells song I'd occasionally play on CIUT, so I checked, and that's the one. I won't
list "My Guy" as spent, because I don't think there was ever a time when I considered
it much more than just okay. I had forgotten Wells died of cancer at a very young age
(48) until I checked an online bio. I was trying to confirm the one thing I do remem-
ber about her: that she was scheduled to play Toronto in the mid-80s, and prior to
the show she was reported as missing for a few days. That was unusual enough in and
of itself, but the real reason I still remember the story is because just before she
disappeared, Scott Woods had interviewed her for The Eyeopener, one of Ryerson Univer-
sity's student papers. There was a point after the story broke where Scott and I actu-
ally started to wonder if he'd become known as the last person ever to speak to Mary
Wells alive--or, conversely, if he'd be taken in as the prime suspect in her abduction.
Scott had earlier interviewed Jimmy Hoffa and Amelia Earhart just before their disap-
pearances, so it did seem that a disturbing pattern was beginning to emerge...Venera-
tion of Barry White mystifies me. He's got some corny nostalgic value, and he's good
for a laugh. I think he took himself considerably less seriously than anyone who tries
to suggest he was an iconic soul singer. In the realm of seduction music--and having
effective seduction music on hand at all times is of paramount importance to me--he
conjures up visions of The Simpsons' Disco Stu...Josh, Karyn, and Barry White were
all black; Wham! was punchless; the Weirdos weren't weird. Wet, Wet, Wet was kind
of soggy, though.
________________________________________________________________________________
2812. The Who: My Generation
2813. The Who Sell Out
2814. The Who: Direct Hits
2815. The Who: Tommy
2816. The Who: Live at Leeds
2817. Who's Next
2818. The Who: Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy
2819. The Who: Quadrophenia
2820. The Who: Odds & Sods
2821. The Who by Numbers
2822. The Who: Two's Missing
2823. Whodini: Escape
2824. David Wilcox: How Did You Find Me Here
2825. Jane Wiedlin: Fur
2826. Wild Cherry
2827. The Wild Magnolias
2828. The Wild Magnolias: They Call Us Wild
Mixworthy: "The Kids Are Alright," #2812; "I Can See for Miles" and "I Can't Reach
You," #2813; "Bargain," #2817; "I Can't Explain," "Happy Jack," "Pictures of Lily,"
"Substitute," and "I'm a Boy," #2818; "Circles," #2822.
Spent: "My Generation," #2812; "Won't Get Fooled Again," #2817; "Play That Funky
Music," #2826.
I took a couple of days off from this to think about the Who, but then I remembered
I'm on summer vacation, during which time thinking too hard is against the rules, so
I instead did a Homer Simpson and just filled my mind with images of space aliens and
dancing cows. So I guess I'll just have to wing it. Twice in my life the Who were up
near the very top of the list: from the end of high school through to the beginning
of university, first for (of course) Who's Next and then later because of the simul-
taneous appearance of The Kids Are Alright and Quadrophenia in theatres, and then
again in the mid-80s, when I reviewed Two's Missing for Nerve and spent some time
relistening to all the singles collected on Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy (also a high
school favourite). It was during that second period of intense interest that I felt
sure that, on "Substitute " and "I Can't Reach You" and "Pictures of Lily," the Who
had hit upon a version of pop music that may have been even closer to God than what
the Beatles had crafted a year or two earlier. There's a mix of fragility and calm
and intricacy on "I Can't Reach You" (not a famous song--if you don't know it, it
leads side two of The Who Sell Out) that, as I've said about other stuff on here,
makes me wonder "Where did that come from?" I say without hesitation that Pete Town-
shend was a genius from 1965 through 1967, and he created a body of work during that
short span of time that you could spend a lifetime trying to take apart and adequate-
ly articulate its complexity. That's the good news; on the other side of the ledger,
though, there's more baggage than even the Rolling Stones carry around in trying to
perpetually hear that body of work fresh. First and foremost is the improbable reluc-
tance of Townshend and Daltrey to put the "Closed" sign up once and for all--for a
long time, nothing all that out of the ordinary, but bizarre after Entwistle's death.
They suffer from overplay on one radio format as much as anyone out there, covering
all phases of their career from the sublime ("My Generation") to the ridiculous ("Who
Are You"). (On a related note, one song I should detest by now but don't is "Baba
O'Riley"; most times it comes on the radio it still resonates with me, and if there
were sufficient room above, I would be comfortable listing it.) The Tommy/Who's Next/
Quadrophenia second phase of their career is a problem in general: there's greatness
there that just does not hold up as well as the first phase, and--for me, anyway,
and notwithstanding what I just finished saying about "Baba O'Riley"--I have a hard
time getting past the image of a bare-chested Daltrey to want to give those albums
the attention they deserve anymore. (Not a problem with the Rolling Stones, as I con-
sider their parallel phase--from Beggars Banquet to Exile--as their best.) And then
there was all that ugly business with Townshend a couple of years ago, and that inev-
itably interferes: one thing I always got from those early songs was a certain kind
of purity (even when about cross-dressing or masturbation!), and that's been compro-
mised, though not vitiated altogether--great art's too durable for that, right? All
of these obstacles matter, and to remain a fan, you almost have to take that '65-67
period and quarantine it as something that exists apart from everything else you know
about the Who. I guess that's what I've been able to do, because a fan I remain. One
last note: if I had A Quick One on vinyl, I'd be listing "Don't Look Away" and "See
My Way." To make room, I'd drop two of "Happy Jack," "I'm a Boy," and "Bargain"...A
different kind of purity: I interviewed Jane Wiedlin in 1988, giving her the honour
17 years later of officially having debased herself, courtesy her current run on The
Surreal Life, more publicly and more spectacularly than anyone else I interviewed
during that time. I would never have guessed she'd end up being the one, not with La-
Toya Jackson and Apollonia and Barry Manilow for competition. She's in the lead right
now, anyway--LaToya and Barry still have all the time in the world to do better, and
I'm confident they're up to the task.
________________________________________________________________________________
2829. Wild Seeds: Brave, Clean + Reverent
2830. Wild Seeds: Mud, Lies & Shame
2831. The Wild Tchoupitoulas
2832. Kim Wilde: Another Step
2833. Will to Power
2834. Andy Williams' Greatest Hits
2835. Andy Williams: Christmas Present
2836. Claude Williams Quintet: Call for the Fiddler
2837. Cootie Williams/Coleman Hawkins/Rex Stewart: Together 1957
2838. Deniece Williams: Hot on the Trail
2839. Don Williams: Volume Two
2840. Hank Williams' Greatest Hits
2841. Hank Williams, Sr.: 24 Greatest Hits
2842. The Collector's Hank Williams Vol. 1
2843. James "D-Train" Williams: In Your Eyes
2844. Lenny Williams: Let's Do It Today
2845. Otis Williams and His Charms: 16 Hits
Mixworthy: "Can't Get Used to Losing You," #2834; "Why Don't You Love Me," #2840.
I'm not sure why #2841 is called 24 Greatest Hits rather than Hank Williams' Greatest
Hits Volume Two--it's a companion volume to #2840, on the same label and with no over-
lap. I first heard Hank Williams' music in This Last Picture Show, which is probably
not all that unusual for someone my age, but still a little embarrassing only because
of how pompous Peter Bogdanovich is (the film's very good). What I mean is, the frail
and tragic (and artistically iconic) Williams seems like someone who was light years
away from the self-aggrandizing, cigar-chomping (because that's what Orson and all my
heroes did, so I'll do it too) Bogdanovich, and it feels somehow wrong that the one
would be my gateway to the other. In any case, I like Williams fine, but, as you can
deduce from the solitary pick, I've never played the few albums I do own with any reg-
ularity...Something else that doesn't make sense to me is the identification of "Moon
River" with Andy Williams: he had nothing to do with Breakfast at Tiffany's, and it
was Henry Mancini who had the hit (something I'd be listing for sure if I had it, and
I should). There actually was a second version that charted in 1961, but it was by
Jerry Butler, not Williams. Somewhere along the way Williams managed to commandeer
the song, so that from the time I started watching his television show in the 1960s,
I always took it for granted that it belonged to him. His version's good, but not as
good as Mancini's. "Can't Get Used to Losing You," though, is one of my very favour-
ite pop hits of the past 50 years sung by anyone who predated rock and roll.
________________________________________________________________________________
2846. Roger Williams: Greatest Hits
2847. Bob Wills and His Texax Playboys
2848. The Best of Bob Wills Vol. II
2849. Al Wilson: Show and Tell
2850. Brian Wilson
2851. Jackie Wilson: Whispers
2852. Jackie Wilson's Greatest Hits
2853. Jackie Wilson: The Soul Years
2854. Mari Wilson: Showpeople
2855. Teddy Wilson: Body and Soul
2856. Jesse Winchester
2857. The Finest of Kai Winding & J.J. Johnson
2858. Paul McCartney & Wings: Band on the Run
2859. Wings at the Speed of Sound
2860. George Winston: Winter Into Spring
2861. George Winston: Piano Solos
2862. Edgar Winter Group: They Only Come Out at Night
Mixworthy: "Whispers (Gettin' Louder)," #2851; "I Get the Sweetest Feeling," #2852;
"Free Ride," #2862.
I bought Wings at the Speed of Sound soon after its release, so it's one of the old-
est albums in my collection. An aunt gave me Wings Over America right when it came
out, and I kept it in the collection for a few years even though one of the sides
had a speck of cardboard or something lodged right into the vinyl, but eventually I
either just junked it or passed it on to someone else. The only Paul McCartney songs
I'd list if I had them would be "Maybe I'm Amazed," which everyone seems to agree is
a career highlight, and "Junior's Farm," which I don't recall thinking of as anything
special when it was on the radio but which I've really come to like the past couple
of years...I've bypassed a lot of the junk I used to love in the mid-70s without much
hesitation, but, helped by a little push from Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused,
"Free Ride" makes the cut (one of the few songs I thought Linklater used really well).
I'll post a scan of the cover when this section gets archived. It basically consists
of a bare-chested and bejewelled albino looking heavenward while flying through empty
space--the usual '70s stuff.
________________________________________________________________________________
2863. Wipers: Youth of America
2864. Wipers: Follow Blind
2865. Wire: Pink Flag
2866. Wire: Chairs Missing
2867. Wire: 154
2868. Wire: "Crazy About Love" 12-inch
2869. Wire: A Bell Is a Cup
2870. Wishbone Ash: Argus
2871. Bill Withers: Still Bill
2872. Bill Withers' Greatest Hits
2873. Howlin' Wolf: Going Back Home
2874. Howlin' Wolf
2875. Howlin' Wolf: His Greatest Sides Volume One
2876. Womack & Womack: Love Wars
2877. Womack & Womack: Radio M.U.S.C. Man
2878. Bobby Womack: Lookin' for a Love Again
Mixworthy: "Mannequin," #2865; "Sand in My Joints" and "Too Late," #2866; "Map Ref.
41ºN 93ºW," #2867; "Come Back in Two Halves," #2869; "Blowin' Free," #2870; "Ain't
No Sunshine," #2872.
I'm not the song-for-song, album-for-album Wire fan I probably implied I was when I
did a short interview with Colin Newman around the time of their return in the mid-
80s. For starters, I had to relisten to Chairs Missing for the mixworthy picks, be-
ing an album I played two or three times 20+ years ago and then filed. My reaction
today isn't much different from what it was then: the two songs I've singled out are
excellent, I like "Outdoor Miner" and a couple of others fine, and then, as with Pink
Flag, there are a number of fragments and more abrasive experiments that just aren't
the kind of thing I normally take to. So Wire is defined by a handful of songs for me
(I'll also be listing "Ahead" from an Enigma compilation later on), not by their LPs
as a whole, and I love those songs so much, I've always more or less endorsed the no-
tion that they were as brilliant as first-generation British punk ever got. Take "Man-
nequin": did the Who or the Byrds ever write as perfect a pop song? They did, but just
to ask the question is enough. I'm pretty sure I still remember where I got each of
the first three LPs. Pink Flag and 154 were deletes from the flagship Cheapies, which
is a little unusual, because my Pink Flag is British, and the majority of deletes car-
ried by Cheapies were American. But the little hole in the upper right-hand corner
tells me that's where it came from. Chairs Missing, like my third Velvet Underground,
turned up in the tiny used bin at Records on Wheels...I thought I had a girl. I know,
because I seen her. Her hair was golden brown, blowin' free like a cornfield. She was
far away--I found it hard to reach her. She told me "You can try," but it's impossible
to find her. And that's all I have to say about that.