Stood Up AND Standing Tall

Today, we return to the waning days of one of my favorite labels, Tin Pan Alley. At this point, they were about at the end of their series of releases by "The Melodiers", and about to move towards their final credited artist, another band called "New Image". For "The Melodiers", at least, I tend to hear the records that feature a male singer as having been sung by the same vocalist who had been with the label for some time - Mike Thomas - only now backed with a thicker band sound. I'd be interested to hear if others think the same, or differently.

Anyway, I was quite taken with the mouthful of an ungrammatical title of "Stood Up and Standing Tall in My Saddle Tonight", and was very happy to find that I wasn't disappointed by the song, either. The band plays an energetic, peppy backing, while the singer voices the lyricists tale. That tale is a first person story of a man who was two-timed, then left alone, by his gal, and spends some of the song telling us how proud and happy he is in his saddle, while spending the rest of the song - an inordinate amount of time for someone is feeling "no pain at all" - about how she done him wrong. Meanwhile, the band bashes away behind him most enthusiastically. 

Download: The Melodiers - Stood Up and Standing Tall in My Saddle Tonight

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On the flip side, we have the same ensemble, in thuddish slow rock-a-ballad mode, and with their female lead singer, with "Just Because". The same person wrote both of this lyrics, and I hope he was much more pleased with "Stood Up". 

After one of those dreaded spoken introductions, we get to the song at about the 0:45 point, and it's the equally dreaded "you look happy, but I know you're not" sort of things, with "ain't this a meaningful song" broken chords on the guitar throughout. Blech. 

Download: The Melodiers - Just Because

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And now, something much more enjoyable than that last track. It's two more of my "cut-up" tracks from way back when. If you don't know what this is about, please read the bottom of this post, or any post from late January or February. 

I have two of these for you today, an appetizer and a main course. And for the first time in several weeks, there are no obscenities hidden within these two cut-ups. 

First up, a brief, but I think entertaining little take on Elvis' "Can't Help Fallin' In Love". This doesn't even get us to the second time he sings the chorus, but what's there is fun: 

Download: Elvis Presley - Can't Help Fallin' In Love (cut-up)

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And something a more substantial - a cut-up of one of the sweetest records to ever hit the top ten, Patience and Prudence's "Tonight, You Belong to Me". If you're not familiar with this record, I encourage you to seek it out, and be charmed just about out of your boots, and then seek out more of their material, much of which is off-the-charts wonderful. Anyway, I think this one is pretty funny. 

Download: Patience and Prudence - Tonight, You Belong to Me (cut-up)

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