The Police : Nothing Achieving

The Police used to rock. I mean, a really, really long time ago, back when Sting was wearing black and yellow football shirts, back before Andy Summers joined the band, back in 1977*. But they really did rock. Their first single "Fall Out" is a nifty little hard rock effort, though I'd say it owes more to the snarling garage rock aesthetic of the late 60's.

The flip side of the single is the tune I want to discuss today. It's a curious chunk of punk rock history with the prerequisite angry-at-your-parents lyrics and a nice little melody.  Gordon's distinctive falsetto soars and dives over the chugging guitar riffs and weaves in and out of the band's stops and starts. And while it was in no way indicative of their work to come, it's a great little number that really deserves more exposure.

You can find "Nothing Achieving" on the Police's big box set, Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings. Or, I suppose you could try and dig up the single from somewhere. That'd be kind of cool.

*: They still rocked later, just not as often. "Synchronicity II", for example, is a sizzler.

[You can listen to The Police's "Nothing Achieving" by navigating to the post "Song071" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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The 4 Seasons : C'mon Marianne

There's just nobody who can scream a rock & roll falsetto like Frankie Valli. We've all heard his plaintive howl on classics like "Sherry", "Walk Like a Man" and "Big Girls Don't Cry". There's something about a guy nailing that upper register that really helps crank a rock song. (Right, Robert Plant?)

Anyway, in listening to a bunch of 4 Seasons tunes I realized that, while they seem like a happy sunny summertime band, a majority of the tunes are about the lead singer losing his love and a majority of those are about his losing his love because he's actually a cheating fuck. This is one of those songs. Bob Crewe, who co-wrote "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" and "Lady Marmalade", as well as the soundtrack to Barbarella, also helped pen a number of their hits, but this wasn't one of them. That is it wasn't penned by Bob, although it arguably also wasn't that much of a hit, considering it only rose to number nine on the Billboard Pop charts in '67.

Still, it's a bit of a rocker. The rhythm section chugs along nicely underneath as Frankie uses his fabulous upper register to bemoan his tales of woe. Apparently he dabbled a bit on the side and lost his lady, even though this other chick was "a passing fling, and not a permanent thing." But if you were thinking about feeling bad for this guy, realize he starts the song with "Here I am on my knees again," so he's been here before. I really dig how, as the second verse starts, a touch of strings drops in right as Frankie bemoans the fact that her big brown eyes are all full of tears. It's a nice touch. Most of the song is just Frankie crying "Marianne" over and over, but it really works. It's definitely one of my favorites.

You can find this tune on any number of Frankie Valli & the 4 Seasons compilations, including this swell looking number from Rhino records. It's got the big name songs, plus a couple other of my favorites, like "Dawn (Go Away)" which I almost posted instead, and some of Frankie's solo stuff which is great too. It's missing "Alone" though, which is a fantastic song. You'll have to grab that one from iTunes or something.

[You can listen to The 4 Seasons' "C'mon Marianne" by navigating to the post "Song016" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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