Top Ten Of The Week: Mexican Jumping Beans

I sometimes get the impression that my blogs are a mini novels in themselves, most notoriously the Top Ten Of The Week to which I pick 10 songs of note and make a excuse why they should be on the top ten of the week.    This week is no different.


1.  Take A Ride-Jimmy Bowskill Band 2012  I reviewed more Ruf Records artists this year than I ever did in the past (six to none actually) all coming from the fine folks at Half Priced Books and not sure if the KCCK DJ's are taking the stuff up there for discounts, all but one were in the two dollar bins including the lovely Samantha Fish and rocking Oli Brown and yet another newcomer comes from that label and from Canada.  Like Sam Fish, he's 22 and up coming and his new album didn't move at all in the regular bins so I waited till they got tired at looking at it and snatched it up on the cheap.  Bowskill is more rock than blues and sounds quite like Steve Marriott or Paul Rodgers but the new album is a combination of  Humble Pie Boogie aka Smokin, and the Black Crowes Shake Your Money Maker which might means no commercial potential in this day and age of corporate crap Cumulus radio.  But this CD was so good I had to hear it a second straight time which all goes to show if you keep it rock and roll, I'll listen.

2.  Jesus Online-Bush 1999  For a band that's been erratic at best, I think I have one too many Bush albums on my shelves and I did thought a lot of their most recent album to check out their back catalog in the buck bins all across this fair nation and they got lucky on 16th Stone but Razorblade Suitcase was garbage even back then.  The Science Of Things the 1999 effort improves although it's more of a history piece than something you would play in this day and age.  KRNA used to play this song.


3.  Hang On Sloopy-The Beau Brummels 1966  They were such a great band but Tom Donohue sold them up the river to Warner Brothers and sold the damn publishing and finished third album to somebody else so Warners decided to use them as a tax write off, making them cover songs that were popular in 1996, thus the infamous Beau Brummels 66 album came out and sold nil.  But then again every garage band covered Hang On Sloopy.  Originally done for sessions for the third BB album they do sound inspired on this faithful cover of The McCoys.  But then again what dumbass parents would name their daughter Sloopy has been the age old question for the past 46 years.  Anyway BB 66 is a curio piece and some of it is fairly good, since they had a great vocalist in Sal Valentino but I'd rather hang myself than have the label force me to do something like Mrs Brown You Got A Lovely Daughter and Nancy Sinatra still owns These Boots Are Made For Walking.


4.  Train Ride-Earth Quake 1977  Spinal Tap does power pop, Earth Quake made two albums for A&M before moving over to Berserkley and doing two uneven albums including the most pompous version of Kicks I ever heard and Hot Chocolate should sue them for destroying Emma. Dreadful stuff.  This version is over the top, Earth Quake seems to do things pompous and over the top but it has a nice infectious guitar hook that makes the song a keeper.  Which I could say the same for the rest of the album, Leveled which is not a keeper.


5.  Again-My Darkest Days 2012   Another two dollar special at HP Books (they sure know when I'm coming up there) MDD is another new band that has gotten airplay on the modern rock and (Gasp) Top forty radio, which like another band I reviewed Halestorm also found their way to my CD player.  Yeah, I know I spend too much time trying to impress the 20 followers out there of how much I seek out in terms of listening to the next big thing.  Taking elements from punk rock as well as the stop and start productions that seems to be the norm of modern rock (Bob Marlette is famous for this although the producer is Joey Moi aka Bob Marlette lite).  Sick And Twisted Affair has been played on KRNA and Z Autotuner Point Nine (the song that is) as well as Casual Sex but any of these 9 songs off their album is taylor made for the radio.  Best review of this band was from a smart ass Amazon reviewer that called them Backstreet Boys as punk rock.  You can take that for all its worth.

6.  Ain't No Easy Way-Nancy Sinatra 2004  I have a soft spot for Miss Nancy through all these years and I bought many of a copy of Fairy Tales and Fantasies, the Rhino best of that features most of her duets with Lee Hazlewood and sold for an outrageous price on Amazon for years, copies would go as high as 150 dollars!  Surprise that I found  three decent copies at the soon to be gone Exclusive Company in Downtown Madison at 10 bucks a few years ago.  Plus a couple vinyl albums to boot, I got a nice mint copy of the Reprise album tucked away somewhere.  A 1971 reunion with Lee wasn't as good nor memorable and Nancy would never reach the top of the charts again.  She had fans to which Morrissey signed her up to his label at the time Attack and got the dude from Pulp to write a few numbers as well as a great album closer with help from U2.  Everybody loves Nancy and the S/T 2004 album is still a fun listen.  The dude making fart noises for vocals is Jon Spencer.  Too bad they couldn't get Lee to do the vocals but Nancy sounds she's having fun.


7.  Take The Power Back-Rage Against The Machine 1992  Such radical thinkers these guys were, that this came out of nowhere and turn the rock and roll world upside down.  Tom Morello started out with glam rockers Lock Up who made one okay Geffen album then formed this with rapper/shouter Zack De La Rocha.  When the album cover was the infamous Buddist Monk setting himself on fire this was not going to be Poison.  Reissued with three live bonus track and retitled XX since it came out 20 years ago. Yepper.

8. Killer-Pat Travers 1984  PT talks about meeting Prince for the first time:  

Ok  I did a Saturday Night Live show with Todd Rundgren way back in early '81 and Prince was on the show as well. It was his national debut. They put us all in the same hotel and after the show I was heading to the after-show party and I got in the elevator and Prince was in the same car. Tried to talk to him but he was just silent. Said "See ya later dude" and went to the party. Came back to the hotel about two and half hours later and got in the elevator and guess who was still there? Prince! In the same position. He's a little feller!

 

 9.  Kayleigh-Marillion 1985  Prog rock tends to grate on my nerves on certain bands, Genesis with Peter Gaberial is one, Marillion with Fish doing the vocals is the other and I recall the hype that was bestowed upon these dudes when their album came out.  Sounds like Pink Floyd with Gaberial singing said the guy up at the record store and I could cared less. I though I could prove myself wrong by getting a cheap version of their best known songs off the Six Of One, Half Dozen Of The Other IRS comp that has Derek the Fish Dick doing six songs and Steve Hogarth doing another six. Marillion with Hogarth has their fans as does the Fish Marillion.  I'm guessing this song is their best known and not to be confused with the same titled song done by the odious Mr. Mister a year later.

10.  Don't Leave Me Like This-The Mexican Jumping Beans aka The Loud Jets 1964   If we ever think about what made the RS Crabb Top Ten worth checking out would be the endless supply of hard to find songs from the 7 decades of rock and roll and then some.  You think you have heard it all and done it all but in the end you really haven't.  Which is why avid collectors go to great lengths to find the obscure and bizarre.  A odd 45 found at the New Bo junk shop 3rd Street Resale, gave me the impression that this may have been another pop band but rather a band from Mexico in the style of Louie Louie.  I figure if we do decide that this is it I'm going to dig deeper into the archives to see how many of y'all out there would be that interested in the forgotten bands of the past.  The Jumping Beans were better known as the Loud Jets but somebody at Roulette thought it would be funny to rename them The Mexican Jumping Beans cuz their music jumps like jumping beans? Oh Morris Levy had a sense of humor didn't he?  As far as I know it's the only 45 that the Mexican Jumping Beans ever made but somebody thought kindly of them to include this song on You Tube. This is my actual copy found at the 3rd Street Resale. (New picture put up due to Google fucking deleting this and about 30 others, Kochsuckers)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIChOZycA7Y

The Bubbling Under Five:

What It Is-Mark Knopfler  2000

For The Love Of Strange Medicine-Steve Perry 1994

Change Of Heart-Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 1982

Heartbreaker-Nantucket 1978

Saint-Ian Hunter 2012 

Bonus Cut: Pretty Eyes-Mexican Jumping Beans/Dos Loud Jets  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO8zQ84Wsdc

As you can tell by the video if you taken the time to watch it, you would noticed that the record has a bit of wear and tear on it.  My copy looks a little better and still has the original Roulette sleeve which features albums from the likes of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Sarah Vaughn, Joey Dee, The Essex and Lou Christie. 

And if you ain't had enough of The Mexican Jumping Beans, here's their Mexican take on The Beatles Come Together  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rn_rB_jzCg

All Music Guide has nothing on the Mexican Jumping Beans/Loud Jets band but there's a site that does mention them.  Of course it's all in Spanish, but they did record for CBS/Columbia Discos Mexico.  Anything else is a guessing game.  Hugo & Luigi better known as Sam Cooke's producers overseen the songs off the Roulette single.

RIP Dave Brubeck