Earworm

Published on 10/09/2024.

Last week’s suggested music playlist comes belated due to a few personal commitments, but on the bright side, the extra time gave me interesting pause for thought about what I was going to write for week 36. Indeed, I went on a bit of a trip down Memory Lane, and I am this time going with ‘the sin(g)s of the Father’ that have been passed down to me.

My lovely paternal figure and I used to go for a lot of drives around in his little red Jaguar XK8, and I have happy memories about the sounds on the six-CD changer. Without further ado, let us take a look at what music kept my Father and I occupied on our adventures.

Suggested Music Listening

1. Out on the Floor – Dobie Gray
2. Move on Up – Curtis Mayfield
3. Sweet Soul Music – Arthur Conley
4. Signs – Snoop Dogg
5. Thunderstruck – AC/DC

Out on the Floor

I always call this ‘your favourite song’ to my Father. I am not sure if that is quite accurate, but I think I can be forgiven for the misnomer, given the thousands of times I heard this Dobie Gray classic whilst we cruised around with the roof down.

Synonymous with the Northern soul scene more than anything to do with Gray’s birthplace of the US, Out on the Floor eventually received most of its air play in the UK roughly ten years after its initial 1966 release. That includes charting twice in 1975 and 1983.

The twinkling piano work and Gray’s fabulous soulful wailing may not be as well-known as international hits like Drift Away, but I think that anyone willing to shuffle their feet will appreciate this one.

Move on Up

Classic, classic, classic! Civil rights activist and ‘gentle genius’ made a huge mark with his début album, Curtis. Move on Up was certainly a favourite of my Father’s and mine for our travels.

At just shy of nine minutes, it is an epic of a track, but every part falls into place in a splurge of incredible musicality and positivity. From the smooth falsetto of the chorus to a saxophone solo that would give John Coltrane a run for his money, Move on Up is, in my opinion, one of the best songs humanity has ever produced.

Sweet Soul Music

Do you like good music? (Yeah, man)
That sweet soul music.

Like Sam Cooke on speed, Arthur Conley launches out of the traps and into Sweet Soul Music with great aplomb. I remember having this song on the stereo as loud as it would go as my Father drove me the hour each way to and from Worcester so I could play rugby. Sundays were special days for me. I hated training, enjoyed playing matches, and, if I am deeply honest, loved most the conversations with my Father and listening to music.

Sweet Soul Music was probably the first soul song with which I found a real affinity. It is a beautiful testament to great songs and artists in the genre, and it helped to further my interest in the world of Motown.

Arthur Conley may not have the same place in the pantheon of soul music as those about which he sung, but I believe this wonderful number will be one that lasts through the ages.

Signs

‘What’s that song your Father always played in his car?’ my Mother once asked me on one of my long-distance video calls to New Zealand.

‘Signs by Snoop Dogg.’

‘No, it wasn’t Snoop Dogg.’

‘It was Signs by Snoop Dogg.’

‘No, it was that one that went du du du.’

‘Mother, it was Signs by….’

That back-and-forth went on for quite some time before my Mother finally acquiesced and put on Signs by Snoop Dogg. Surprise, surprise, Justin Timberlake’s opening falsetto gave away that I was right: it was indeed Signs by Snoop Dogg. At that point, however, she did not notice my smugness as she was already clapping her hands and dancing around the kitchen.

Signs itself may not be as well remembered off 2004’s R&G (Rhythm and Gangsta): The Masterpiece as much as songs like Drop It Like It’s Hot, but from the moment my sister first burned it onto a CD for the car, my Father was hooked. He may question that description, but the thousands of repeats would not. Think that is hyperbole? To this day I can still recite the lyrics. On the upside, Signs is an early-2000s banger that lives up to the album title of ‘masterpiece’.

Thunderstruck

Na na na na na na na na (Thunder!)

Strictly speaking, Thunderstruck was not one of the staples from my father’s and my UK car journeys, but it did receive a lot of Bluetooth time in the car in New Zealand. We used to enjoy coasting along Tamaki Drive in the summer, windows down, pushing the speakers to the limits with Brian Johnson’s howling and Angus Young’s staccato shredding.

You may suspect, given the more soulful numbers on this list, that it was my request to get this one playing rather than my Father’s, but you would be surprised. After we saw AC/DC at Western Springs for their 2015 Rock or Bust tour, he was like a renaissance man – determined to listen to more rock music rather than simply sticking to his Motown shell.

Written by Lewis Brown.