Butch Walker Mixtape CD

Why is constructing a mixtape cd (is the correct usage now "mix-cd"? Whatever.) so nerve wracking?  It's not like I wrote n performed the songs and now have to accept the blame or (WOW!) get the credit. The pressure is that I want everybody to fall as hard for Butch Walker's songs as I have.  He's explored so many styles, though, tough to knock the cd down to less than 80 minutes.  AND had to show insight and smarts to put together just the right mix of cuts that will appeal to the amorphous, highly idiosyncratic audience:  family, friends, acquaintances, neighbors, co-workers--who might take the time and make the effort to actually listen to the cd.  I know that once they listen, they'll fall like a ton of bricks, so ....

Here's the resulting list.  Keep in mind, these songs are some of my favorites, but not all of them, and they come from only 4 albums, not including anything from the Marvelous 3 period and before.  Attempting to draw listeners in with current rockers, thoughtful ballads, songs that remind me of Todd Rundgren, Tom Petty, the 90's and/or other music periods in the past.  Also, what if Butch actually did a show in Houston--dream come true--these lucky first responders would have a good feel for the set list.  Think it's a representative and great lineup:

Mixtape

Bodegas and Blood
Summer of '89
Sweethearts
Day Drunk
Synthesizers
Closest Thing to You I'll Ever Have
Sucker Punched
The Weight of Her
Here Comes The …
Ponce de Leon Ave.
Passed Your Place, Saw Your Car, Thought of You
Oooh…Aaah…
Hot Girls in Good Moods
Ladies and Gentlemen..."The Let's-Go-Out-Tonites!"
Too Famous to Get Fully Dressed
Bethamphetamine (Pretty Pretty)
Maybe It's Just Me
Best Thing You Never Had

Plan to distribute these this week.  Will be tough not to press for opinions and positive reviews, but that will definitely be the way to go.  If they like it, they will love it and if they can't get into Butch, oh well. 

Butch Walker--Live From Daryl's House

So there may be a few of you who haven't already heard me extol the virtues of watching Live From Daryl's House on tv or on the web.  If not, YOU HAVEN'T BEEN LISTENING!!  For the rest of my legion of readers, here's the highly anticipated blog about Butch Walker's appearance on LFDH.

It's a really good show--Daryl Hall (yes, from Hall and Oates) invites musicians to come to his house in upstate NY to jam with him and his band.  So far, the beauty of the show for me has been a re-introduction to H&O songs and getting to hear new music.  A lot of the guests are complete unknowns to me.  Not their fault; I just don't listen to new music.  Remember:  this blog is called bibilovesangus, referring to my  relatively recent discovery of AC/DC.  Although not a metal head or anything like that, mostly I like old school rock n roll.

Anyway, episode 54 of LFDH really, really changed stuff up for me.  (what a great sentence! LFDH didn't do much for my ability to express myself verbally)  Here it is, just in case you haven't seen it:

LFDH, Episode 54, May 15, 2012

Once you've watched, I'm sure you'll react just like I did and watch it over and over.  At first, I was just so taken with Daryl and Butch's version of Say It Isn't So--you can just see the joy the two shared in singing together!  Truly, incontrovertibly, a gem among versions of this song!  From August 28, when I began keeping track of the youtube viewings of this video, to today, it's moved up from 2340 to 2903.  And, no, it wasn't just me viewing it repeatedly.  It's addictive listening/watching.  Butch has such a feel for the song--very close to that sense of regretted, but understood and inevitable love fade in some of his own work.  Right now, my current fave of the episode is Sweethearts--just love it!!!!!  Sure, Butch is cute and all and of course he can sing his music with an passion and immediacy that's absolutely enthralling AND endearing, but to watch  Daryl, getting off to the song, the shared performance--man, it's fantastic!

I had read that Butch no longer did Mixtape in concert and felt sad that I hadn't discovered him early enough to attend a concert where he did sing it, so when he sings it on LFDH, OMG!  So heart rending, so close to pretty much everybody's experience with unrequited love, soooooo beautiful. The mix-cd that I've made of Butch's songs begins with Mixtape.  Closest Thing, apparently a Butch concert mainstay, is also here--guess it's the closest thing for me to getting to see Butch do it live--and again, Butch gives it his soulful all and Daryl is right up there with him.  These two are just great together!

Daryl's band comes through on all the shows, but their strengths as musicians really show up with Butch.  You expect them to be good on the ballad-y love songs, but their back up on Bodegas and Blood--killer, total rocker song--is so strong, tight, so UP, makes you want to jump up and dance around!  At home, when this song comes on, I do dance around--the cats run and hide as a safety measure.  FYI:  they LOVE Butch Walker, or at least they've come to accept that they're going to hear at least Say It Isn't So, at least once or twice a day.  Wonder if they thinkButch is better/worse than AC/DC???

Finally, during the food portion of the show, Butch and Daryl cook paella with a noted chef and Butch is wearing the LFDH apron--I have one now!!!

So, enjoy episode 54, it's great!  Discovering Butch Walker, even greater!  Paella anyone?

Butch Walker Documentary--Out of Focus

Out of Focus

Watched the trailer for Butch's upcoming movie--too cool!  When will it be out in theaters?  Who would know?  Based on the clip, looks like just what a fan would want to see over and over again.  The currently uninitiated would watch it at least once, then leave the theater as converts to the Butch experience, right?

Hall and Oates Concert, September 10, 2012

Hall and Oates ROCKED!! Great concert, Daryl's voice sounded way more solid than a recent review led me to think and the band--same one from Live from Daryl's House--cooked! The audience was totally into it and had a noticeable effect on the show. Small-ish venue, friendly crowd, very laid back, had a really good time. Set list was a total trip down the hits list: Maneater kicked off the show, then, Family Man (one of my more recent faves), Out of Touch, Say It Isn't So (ok, I hear Butch Walker's version in my head, but nothing less than) EXCELLENT, a couple of songs from their early days, plus a solo work by John Oates, up next, She's Gone, Sara Smile--I almost cried, it was so fantastic to hear Daryl sing it live--I Can't Go for That, Rich Girl, You Make My Dreams--the place was completely insane by this time--Kiss On My List and last, Private Eyes. Everyone had been singing alongm especially with the last few songs, though, the place was reverberating!  Some fans dancing, including me and Flaca, and we just had a blast!!! Got to shake hands with the sax player later, but (sigh) no pictures with H & O and no autographs. Still, so glad we came to this.   If yiu get a chance to experience Hall and Oates--HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Butch Walker: Will He Ever Play Houston? What To Do About This?

OBJECTIVE:  Bring Butch Walker to Houston. 

HOW TO?  I had a plan to make a BW cd of my favorite songs--as long as they were on The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Let's-Go-Out-Tonights, Letters,  or The Spade cds--and if I could figure out how to download the video of Say It Isn't So --you know, my own Mixtape, and give it out to everyone I know.  Okay, that plan wasn't that well-baked--but it is still a project to tackle--otherwise how to stage a Butch Walker music domination putsch among those I know? 

To actually see Butch live, other strategems (or singular, strategem?) are /is needed.

So, what if...the local bar/club scene doesn't know about Butch and people like me that want to see him?  I devised a generic email I sent to The Last Concert, Numbers, Fitzgerald's--really, what do I know about the local bar scene?--but anyway, it's a start. Using that email, tweaked it a bit and sent a version to Butch's management today:

Even though I read Drinking with Strangers very carefully, I'm unfamiliar with how music acts are booked into venues in Houston. Hope I'm contacting the right person--if not, please pass this email on to them.

A couple of months ago, I was watching Live From Daryl's House, locally shown at 1 and 1:30 am, (Saturday nights, really Sunday mornings). Right, I don't have cable. Daryl Hall has invited some cool musical guests, but little did I know that episode 54 would lead me to writing this email. I enjoyed the other episodes and new artists--who were/are Chromeo, Neon Trees, The Dirty Heads, Train?--I've asked people a good bit younger than me and they didn't know, but when I saw Butch Walker's turn, well, as is common in parlance now, OMG!! I spent hours afterward watching the show over again on the web and then searching for and watching BW videos. Not to sound too over the edge, I must watch at least parts of that show every day now. Butch's performance was outstanding, incredible, just killed! And his version of Say It Isn't So---I mean, gee whiz, omigod--he has to incorporate it into the live act, really!
Since then, I've talked about him on my fb page intent on making my friends and family Butch Walker fans, posted videos--LOVE the ones everyone loves, won't bore you with the obvious--bought Live at Budokan on the strength of online raves, two cds (Letters, The Spade), talked about Butch to just everyone. Like anyone else with Internet access today, I've also blogged about Butch--even though the blog is entitled Bibilovesangus (as in Angus Young). Read the book, thought about making a mad trip to Berlin for the upcoming concert. Realistically, though, can't go to Berlin on such short notice and honestly, it is exhausting devising Lucy-Ethel schemes to see Butch live.

So, long story longer, I sent emails to a few local bars/clubs extolling Butch to the celestial skies [oops, redundant], believing it's not in vain to think that one of these venues has been wanting to book Butch somewhere in Houston, they've just been waiting for a raving lunatic fan to let them know the market is there for the exploiting.
As you are well aware, his stuff is out of this world great, he can rock like a billybejesus, belt out a heart wrenching ballad like there's no tomorrow cause he lost the girl, and completely suck you into his performance like cannot be believed. (Some of this energy is coming from "just watched Live at Budokan today") The point is, PLEASE have him play here in Houston, the sooner the better. I don't know if Butch wants to come to Houston and someone has to make an offer or if it entails someone convincing Butch to come to Houston, but anything your organization could do in either scenario, PLEASE DO IT. I'm convinced that a Houston audience will instantly recognize that Butch has talent out the wazoo, a fantastic crowd-pleasing voice and material, has proven indie cred, AND to top it off, he's real easy to look at and has loads of tattoos--what more would an audience need to respond positively?

Hope you can do something about this, aka bring/send Butch Walker to Houston. Please.

Sincerely (and with no stalker intentions),

Helen (aka Bibi)

We will see, right?  In the meantime: 


Say It Isn't So started it all

The Best Thing I Didn't Know About: Butch Walker!

Huge announcement:  Bibi has discovered Butch Walker and WHOA what a fabulous enlightenment it has been.  Due credit to Live From Daryl's House for this, episode 54, originally aired on May 15, 2012. 

OK, for those of you who don't know LFDH, Daryl Hall (yes, that Daryl Hall, from Hall and Oates) does a live webcast that is later aired on tv.  He invites musical guests, old friends or new acquaintances--wonder what elements go into the decision process on this--to play with him and his band at this house in upstate NY.  Cool idea, right?  Looks like lots of pre-activity for both sides selecting mutually agreed upon songs from both the guest's and Daryl's repertoires and practicing a lot before the broadcast.  OR, these folks are all just phenomenally talented:  they meet and over the span of a day, jam, come up with new arrangements, with, btw, egos checked at the door, and for the benefit of the viewing audience, come up with 4 to 6 songs in terrific shape.  This is along with (usually) having a chef come by and cook an incredible meal which they enjoy in the middle of the show.  Thinking about it, the meal probably comes at the end of the day, but small point.  Again, great concept, which I applaud.  If you're wondering, yes, John Hall has appeared on the show, looks like they still have a very good working relationship.  And, yes, Daryl Hall has aged very well--I think he looks way better now than he did back in the day.  His voice is still so impressive, smooth, a bit smokier than in the past, hitting the falsetto notes effortlessly, really, for me, relaxed, but loving it.  He's a gracious host, giving the guests all the leeway they want with his songs and enjoying himself immensely when he sings their songs.

Every show I've seen has been really good, reminding me how great the well-known artists are (Smoky Robinson, Booker T, Todd Rundgren, Jose Feliciano, etc.) and showcasing people I've never heard of who are very good musicians/performers--Meyer Hawthorne, Neon Trees, Train, Ceelo Green, but the one with Butch Walker, just blew me away.  His songs were instantly hits to me (Sweethearts, Bodegas and Blood, Mixtape, Closest Thing) and when Butch started in on Say It Isn't So, with Daryl just killing it as he and Butch traded verses, OMG!  OMG is really not telling you the half of it.  Butch's voice is fabulous, clear, so melodic, evocative and he can ROCK!  I watch/listen to at least parts of this episode every day, have put all the videos on fb, recommended them to everyone.  He and Daryl cooked singing together--to me it showed in their faces and in their sound together.  Truly a great show and a new interest for me.

Butch is apparently an east coast darling, England and Germany love him, too.  He's produced other performers--all popular today, just not my music--but for me, it's all about Butch's work as a solo artist.  He's currently working with a band, The Black Widows; they released an album in 2011, singing one of the cuts on the Letterman show, Synthesizers.  It's another side of Butch, not apparent on LFDH, sort of cool, hipster style here.  (Check out the Synthesizers video with Matthew McConnaughey reprising his Dazed and Confused star turn, so beyond cool.  That's Butch as the bartender.   Cute, right?)  You can see a lot of Butch on Youtube--interviews, so many of his songs, I highly recommend searching for him.  For your convenience, I've compiled my current favorite Butch Walker songs, including Say It Isn't So, which is from LFDH:

Best Butch Walker Songs, September 2012

Here Comes the Heartache

Sweethearts

Bodegas and Blood

Hot Girls in Good Moods

Maybe It’s Just Me

Mixtape

Closest Thing

The best thing you never had

Cigarette Lighter Love Song

Synthesizers

Say It Isn’t So

  When it comes to Bibi finding a new obsession (nothing really scary, stalking-level stuff), you know it includes learning all about the idee fixe.  So, now reading Butch's book:  Drinking with Strangers (Music Lessons from a Teenage Bullet Belt) and having a great time learning about his influences, past music lives, etc.  AND, listening to more and more of his music, so the list above could change.  I will let you know.    The grand plan right now is to make my own mixtape of Butch's music and distribute copies to the unschooled.  It won't be as heart searching as Butch's Mixtape, but it will be some choice material, for sure!  And YOU may be one of the lucky recipients!  I know you will be converted.  Once there's a local tribe of us, we can form a club, then a Facebook page, and start a campaign to get Butch to Houston.  Don't know what we could do about the prevailing, stultifying music and life-in-general malaise over the city, but we can work on that later.

Whoa--it's been a while!  But, it's at least possible that by next year, a new album and/or tour--hope does spring eternal in the rabid fan's heart.  In the meantime, with so little AC/DC news available, life's been a lot of same old, same old, what can a kitten do?  Due to some unbelievable luck, was taken to the Rod Stewart concert that by great happenstance occurred ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!  He gave a really good show, lots of energy, a certain amount of irony, not bad at all.  Rod was into it--must-have star requirement and he looked like he was having a good time, singing and dancing around.  Don't meant to sound lukewarm about it, I got to go, but it wasn't an AC/DC concert, after all.

For the last few weeks, been watching Live From Daryl's House, a show that Daryl Hall (from Hall and Oates) hosts, inviting different musicians, some from back in the day, some who are currently en vogue, to jam with his band, maybe sing some of his past hits, definitely sing some of the guest's hits.  Although the viewing schedule is less than good (two episodes at 1 and 1:30 am on Saturday nights), the episodes are all online, so still accessible.  Have been really suprized at the quality of the music that has been on view and particularly surprized that I've been so open to it.  Plus, I never knew Daryl Hall was so talented.  He seems really happy to meet each of the guests and gets into singing with the guests on their songs, plus singing his songs with different arrangements, leaving a lot up to the guests seems to give him a charge.  Have gone into a Hall and Oates jag and plan to see them on September 10.  Will be reporting on the experience.

One of the standout guests on LFDH is Butch Walker.  He did a version of Say It Isn't So with Daryl and WOW!  Not a fan of watching videos online, but think I've watched that one at least 25 times.  Even wanted to buy it from ITunes--something I never do.  It isn't sold that way, so whatever, will have to figure out another way to add it to my music library.  Excellent, really!  Would be so cool if he showed up as a guest surprize at the concert!