Music Project: Tuesdays

Why does the name Tuesday Weld spring to mind? She was a starlet when that meant something almost special. A light neo-thespian, somebody who might be on their way up or not, but in a happy relaxed state rather than the pre and post rehab “its mine” disasters stalking the stages these days. But oh that name; second only to Tallulah Bankhead for great Hollywood names. But nothing really to do with music is it. No we need to go to Ruby Tuesday and the Rolling Stones.

I love the song but the available videos are poor so what came to mind next was As Tears Goes By which is similar (you can sing the refrain after the verses of Ruby Tuesday). This was sung by the brand new Tuesday Weld-ish Marianne Faithfull. This video could qualify as an historical artifact.

Paul Anka introduces Brain Epstein who then introduces her. What strikes me about this is how absolutely still she is, you can just see her foot slightly moving, and then in the instrumental break the camera is happy just to stay on her face. But who would have seen the Marianne Faithfull of Broken English and particularly the infidelity catscratch howl of Why’d Ya Do It with the infamous lines “why’d you betray my little oyster for such a low bitch” and “everytime I see you cock I see her cunt in my bed” out of many (kind of makes Alannis’ You Oughta Know seem kind of soft). The album came out in 1979 but here she is performing it in the 90s. Its still harsh but the original is very much worth a listen.

So back to the Stones because the point I want to make is when a group is around forever, no matter how good they are, they start to lose ground. The Stones are still considered one of the great stadium bands but song releases are understated despite the fact that even mediocre Stones songs are better than much of the competition. Another thing about the Stones is that there was a time when you were supposed to choose sides between them and The Beatles. Insanity indeed. As if they were opposites of some sort.

This last Saturday I saw Wilco perform and they did my favourite song (I Hate it Here) from the new cd and the cool thing is that it is essentially a Stones song (think Jagger singing this) with a Beatles break in the middle (the horns etc.).

For my next exhibit I once again present the 3 Dog Night. (I know, I was as surprised as you). Why? One is the Lonliest Number but from the following:

Sung by Aimee Mann who proved that somnolence was no drawback to a career in music even as a solo performer after being in Til Tuesday. (One of those performers I’ve really tried to like but though on short listens she seems strong loses density on extended exposure). Starts with an image of Jason Robards who I just watched again in Melvin and Howard where he sings a heartbreaking version of Bye Bye Blackbird.

But lets get to some real Tuesday numbers like the Moody Blues Tuesday Afternoon, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Tuesday’s Gone, Bowie’s Love You Til Tuesday and Tuesday Morning by the Pogues. But you know I don’t really like any of them that much and the Bowie is excruciatingly bad. So I leave you with the song Bathtime in Clerkenwell by the band the Real Tuesday Weld.