Stevie Wonder
Creepin’
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Released in 1974

TLC
Creep
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Released in 1994

Scala & Kolacny Brothers
Creep
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Released in 2010

This time on Musical Cousins: three totally different songs with three totally different takes on the word “creep.”

First up, Stevie Wonder’s haunting “Creepin’,” featuring backup vocals from Minnie Riperton. In this song, creep refers to the stealth way a lover invades the dream world. The melody is typical Stevie perfection, but the moody, off-kilter synth floating underneath hints at something less rosy.

In TLC’s 1994 single, “Creep,” the Atlanta trio and producer Dallas Austin made a buoyant R&B/pop classic dedicated to cheating on the one you love.

The last take on the word “creep” comes from an early Radiohead composition where the creep in question is the song’s self-hating narrator. I prefer Scala & Kolacny Brothers’s cover, used to great effect in the trailer for The Social Network. Dozens of post-pubescent Belgian girls singing in unison truly is creepy.

Beyond Belief
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Shabby Doll
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Man Out Of Time
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Almost Blue
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Released in 1982

Elvis Costello is a great all-around songwriter. His work features creative and catchy melodies, deftly honors a range of musical genres, and delivers lyrics that can be both narrative and poetic.

Imperial Bedroom is among his better LPs. Elvis’s artistic restlessness often results in his albums lacking in cohesion. But Imperial Bedroom succeeds due to its diversity and craft; no wonder it is regarded as one of Elvis’s best.

Released in 1982 — his seventh album in five years — Elvis teamed up with a new producer, Geoff Emerick. Emerick was an engineer on many of The Beatles’ later records (the first track he engineered was “Tomorrow Never Knows”), and his influence on Elvis Costello & The Attractions’ sound is clear.

Elvis earned the cover of Rolling Stone just after the release of Imperial Bedroom.

The album starts off with the two-and-a-half-minute epic “Beyond Belief.” The lyrics feel great rolling off the tongue (“History repeats the old conceits. The glib replies, the same defeats”), but my poetic interpretation skills are insufficient to decipher the song’s meaning; my best guess is that he’s awed by a woman who can be cruel.

“Shabby Doll” — which is really fun to say — is filled with idiosyncratic touches: Steve Nieve’s bouncy piano, Bruce Thomas’s bass popping up in unexpected places, and Pete Thomas’s driving rhythm punctuating the final minute of the track.

“Man Out Of Time” is one of those tracks where there’s a lot going on, but the sum is greater than its parts. The riotous shrieking that bookends the song is incongruous with its more serene middle. The lyrics can be inscrutable (“There’s a tuppenny ha’penny millionaire. Looking for a fourpenny one” Huh?). But when that chorus hits, it’s hard not to sing along.

The last featured track is definitely my all-time favorite (and 5-star classic) Elvis song, “Almost Blue.” Musically and lyrically, it could have been performed by Frank Sinatra or Nina Simone in a smoky lounge. Elvis really digs deep on his vocal performance, landing slightly behind the beat to heighten the melancholy.

In the liner notes that came with a CD reissue of Imperial Bedroom, Elvis reflected on his achievement:

Many of the… songs on the record… exhibit a malaise of the spirit and a sinking feeling about happy endings.

That pretty much sums it up.

Barbra Streisand (w/Barry Gibb)
Guilty
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Album: Guilty (1980)

Tanya Morgan
Stay Tuned (Sunset Version)
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Album: Sunset (EP, 2005)

A couple of months ago, I was diggin’ in the dollar bin at Amoeba and came across Guilty, a Barbra Streisand/Barry Gibb duet album from 1980. My Mom totally had this record, and played it frequently enough that the title song came back to me instantly. As I stood hunched over the crate on the floor, I wondered what other beats might lurk within the dated airbrushed sleeve. For a buck, I could satisfy my curiosity and prevent lingering back damage.

I had thought about featuring Guilty in a new gBlog feature dedicated to cheesy pop, but couldn’t find enough tracks on the record that were bad-good enough to share. Oh well. At least the title cut — which won a Grammy and features the brothers Gibb (aka the Bee Gees) on background vocals — entertained me enough to rip it and upload to my iPod.

I had pretty much given up on the idea of blogging about the record. But a few weeks after I had put it aside, I heard a familiar sample in a podcast from The Sound of Young America. It was included in a 2006 performance by an unknown rap group with a misleading name: Tanya Morgan. (According to their MySpace profile, “THE NAME MEANS NOTHING…AND EVERYTHING. JUST ENJOY THE MUSIC! THATS AN OLD QUESTION PLEASE DONT ASK IT ANYMORE! LOL”)

After about 30 seconds on Google, I discovered the name of the track and soon possessed a copy of the song, “Stay Tuned.” Production-wise, this cut is bananas! Tanya Morgan (I keep wanting to call them Tracy Morgan) speeds up a “Guilty” sample and chops Barbra’s vocal into tasty little morsels.

But as the track nears its expected end, it veers in an unexpected direction, letting the original Barbra/Barry track play unadorned (at the accelerated tempo) for a good minute or so. As Barry rehashes the same vocal line Barbra sang in the first half of the track, producer Von Pea brings the beat back and chops up Barry’s vocals to match the earlier Barbra sample. Rappers Donwill and Ilyas then repeat their verses over the remixed beat. It’s kinda hard to explain, but the impact is a deft combination of clever and groovy.

You Make Me Feel So Young
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All Of Me (Instrumental)
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Angel Eyes
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Album: Sinatra At The Sands (1966)

It’s been awhile since I’ve spotlighted my collection of recorded live albums, so I’ve dug up a killer LP from the legendary Frank Sinatra. As if that wasn’t enough of a draw, he’s accompanied by Count Basie and his orchestra, with songs arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones. Wow, that’s a lot of talent in one room.

Recorded in early 1966 at Las Vegas’s Sands Hotel (Sinatra had an ownership stake in the Sands until Howard Hughes bought it a year later), this was Sinatra’s first live album. Sinatra, Basie, and Jones had previously collaborated on the studio album, It Might As Well Be Swing, which produced the huge hit, “Fly Me To The Moon.

As you can imagine, Sinatra in Vegas was a huge event, and the packed crowd is ecstatic. As expressed by Stan Cornyn in the liner notes for Sinatra At The Sands, “Two thousand knees with nowhere to go.”

The first track I selected was “You Make Me Feel So Young,” which your Mom totally loves. This song exemplifies the swinging, effortless style that Sinatra is known for. He makes it look so easy, but Sinatra spent decades perfecting his craft.

You can’t have Count Basie as your bandleader without showcasing his immense talents, and Sinatra was no fool, letting Basie and his orchestra let loose on the standard “All Of Me.” Jones’s inventive arrangement gives Basie all the room he needs, and the emphatic, buoyant horns provide a big band counterpoint to Basie’s mellow piano boogie. Since this track was recorded from vinyl*, you can clearly hear the murmur of the crowd in the background; listen as they “wake up” when the horns blast for the first time.

The last selection from this fine record is the ballad “Angel Eyes.” Simply performed with his long time pianist, Bill Miller, Sinatra’s phrasing on this track is nothing short of perfection. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Sinatra’s hilarious intro (“It’s boozin’ time!”), which is in stark contrast to the melancholy song that follows.

For years, my image of Sinatra was molded by Bar Mitzvah classics like “New York, New York” and “My Way.” I was really blown away after I heard this record, and it inspired me to seek out more from this dynamic personality and deeply adventurous singer.

*If you want to hear an example of the superiority of vinyl, compare the version of “Angel Eyes” above with this version ripped from the CD. Yeah, the LP version has some popping, but doesn’t Sinatra’s vocals sound warmer and more intimate?

The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker
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Slow Love
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If I Was Your Girlfriend
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Adore
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Album: Sign O’ The Times (1987)

Most casual Prince fans would peg Purple Rain as their favorite of his albums. But those that have followed Prince’s career would probably pick Sign O’ The Times, his double LP from 1987. I play this record all the time, and picking only a few tracks to share was challenging.

I was fortunate enough to see Prince on the Sign O’ The Times tour in 1988. My high school friend, Adrian, and I had spent the day in Manhattan and we were approaching Penn Station to take the train home to Long Island. A scalper approached us and offered us tickets to that night’s show for $60 each. We were typical broke high school students and bargained him down to $60 for both. Amazing seats, right on the floor. Here are my memories of the show: it was in the round, there was a basketball court on the stage, a huge pipe organ was lowered from the ceiling, Eric B. and Rakim was sitting close to us, and a car actually drove him on and off the stage (talk about extravagant!). Overall, it was among the best live performances I’ve ever seen.

Back to the record. As I wrote earlier, it’s chock full of 5-star classics, so I tried to pick ones that folks may not know as well. And just to be really OCD about it, I selected one song from each of its four sides.

First up is the bouncy “The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker,” a story-song about a dude with relationship problems who takes a bath with a waitress. Prince’s songwriting is adventurous, with tone and key changes that flow magically from one passage to the next. Apocryphally, Prince didn’t know anything about Dorothy Parker (the writer), he just liked the name.

The next selection is “Slow Love,” which has a great retro feel to it. Based on the title, it wouldn’t be surprising if this was another one of Prince’s dirty songs but it’s actually a sincere and romantic groover. Throughout the LP — but especially on this track — Prince deploys his horn section in counterpoint to the melody.

For sheer cojones, it’s hard to beat “If I Was Your Girlfriend,” where the purple one reimagines his relationship with his ex-lover as her female best friend. At first, it’s all about picking out clothes, washing her hair and such. But this being a Prince song, he/she soon begins to fantasize about hot girl-on-girl action. This song is hilarious yet deep, and I gotta believe Prince is in on both the joke and the novel concept he concocted.

The final selection may be the most straightforward love song Prince has ever written (“Love is 2 weak 2 define; Just what u mean 2 me”) though of course, Prince can’t help himself from bringing a touch of the profane to it (“In a word, U were sex; All of my cool attitude U took”). Vocally, Prince offers up his most expressive falsetto, swooping into his uppermost register with full command.

For reals, you should really just go out and purchase this one.