Hey! Journal...
In 1999, after getting my first job at 17, I finally had a little money of my own to spend. At this time, $15 was (and still kind of is) a lot of money to me. However, I had been rocking this song called "Freak of the Week" for the longest time, and wanted to take a chance on Hey! Album by the Marvelous 3. I traded in my green for this CD (don't you love the feeling you get as you leave the record store with something new and unlistened to in your hand?) and had no idea what I was in store for.
Hey! Album rocked my world. I was raised on rock music. My dad always played such an eclectic array of artists that shaped the names in my record collection to this day. Queen, Petty, AC/DC, Sweet, Skynyrd, Stones, Aerosmith (classic, not the J-j-jaded Aero of today). Instead of PBS, I wanted my MTV. Well, if you recall, the landscape of music sucked quite a bit in the late 90's, and really isn't much better today. Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Korn?...Damn. It's hard to rock out to the Dave Matthews Band, you know what I mean? Not saying I don't enjoy some DMB (my taste varies a lot - one day I'll be rocking some Queen, the next day it's Michael Buble...I even own an Aqua album...I'm not proud of it.)
Hey! Album was a return to the classic, pulsing glam rock sound and I couldn't shut it off. I'm not sure it left my stereo for much of the summer of '99. The song "You're So Yesterday" was the driving force behind my breaking up with the girl I was seeing at that time. "Every Monday" would blast out of my car hard enough to break my windows. "Mrs. Jackson" is still one of my favorite songs to sing along to ever. From start to finish, I couldn't skip a single track.
The follow up, Ready, Sex, Go, was a fantastic album, but didn't live up to Hey! Album for me. When I heard that the Marvelous 3 disbanded, I was heartbroken. Every so often, I get on a Marvelous 3 kick, play those albums from start to finish, and wish the band was still together.
7 years and two months later, I see an ad on MySpace for Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonite's. For the last couple of years, I'd keep hearing about Butch Walker, who I knew was the lead singer for Marvelous 3, becoming this go-to producer for a variety of artists. But, I wasn't aware he was still making music for himself. Excitedly, I rushed over to my local Circuit City on my lunch break and purchased "The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonites" with the same giddy feeling I had buying Hey! Album.
The music floored me. It showed such an amazing variety of influences and sounds. It's so grown and a little different sounding than Marvelous 3, but stays true to the style and sound of Butch's earlier days.
I was more floored by the fact that Walker had been releasing solo albums for a few years. One day after I bought "The Rise and Fall..." I purchased "Left of Self-Centered" and "Letters" (Butch Walker's other two solo albums) and I have to say, I'm not sure which of the 3 solo efforts I like best. Each one has something different to offer. There are tracks that make me feel like a million bucks when I listen to them (Alicia Amnesia, Hot Girls in Good Moods, Uncomfortably Numb), and then there are songs that just make me feel (When Canyons Ruled the World, Promise, Take Tomorrow (One Day at a Time)).
If you really want to get a sense of just who Butch Walker is, find the Live at Budokan DVD and watch the bonus Atlanta concert. Fucking brilliant. This guy can play anything. In fact, on his first solo CD, Left of Self-Centered, he wrote, produced, arranged, and PLAYED everything on it!
Download, purchase, or burn copies of his songs if you're looking for some new music to get into. I suggest you start with anything off of Hey! Album by Marvelous 3.
Here's one from Left of Self-Centered.
Take Tomorrow (One Day at a Time)
You got lost for a while.
You've been trying to find a smile.
You got stood up, then you fell down,
And when you needed, there was no one 'round.
You loved the previews and hate the movie.
You scream at the screen, "Something move me!"
before you start to fade away.
Give me all your fear, Throw it all away.
And think about the good things, no matter what they say,
We'll take tomorrow, baby, yeah,
One day at a time.
You just stare into space,
you found love but it got erased,
you're on the road with all the stoplights,
And you're too afraid to turn the wrong from right.
You ate your soul and it made ya fat,
Starve yourself from everything else that makes you completely full.
So give me all your fear, throw it all away.
Think about the good things, no matter what they say.
We'll take tomorrow, baby, yeah,
One day at a time.
So you run, so you hide,
And you watched as they die,
They all fell, you could fall too,
Or you could sew your wings and try to fly right through.
Give me all your fear, throw it all away.
Think about the good things, no matter what they say.
We'll take tomorrow, baby, yeah,
One day at a time.
Hey! Album rocked my world. I was raised on rock music. My dad always played such an eclectic array of artists that shaped the names in my record collection to this day. Queen, Petty, AC/DC, Sweet, Skynyrd, Stones, Aerosmith (classic, not the J-j-jaded Aero of today). Instead of PBS, I wanted my MTV. Well, if you recall, the landscape of music sucked quite a bit in the late 90's, and really isn't much better today. Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Korn?...Damn. It's hard to rock out to the Dave Matthews Band, you know what I mean? Not saying I don't enjoy some DMB (my taste varies a lot - one day I'll be rocking some Queen, the next day it's Michael Buble...I even own an Aqua album...I'm not proud of it.)
Hey! Album was a return to the classic, pulsing glam rock sound and I couldn't shut it off. I'm not sure it left my stereo for much of the summer of '99. The song "You're So Yesterday" was the driving force behind my breaking up with the girl I was seeing at that time. "Every Monday" would blast out of my car hard enough to break my windows. "Mrs. Jackson" is still one of my favorite songs to sing along to ever. From start to finish, I couldn't skip a single track.
The follow up, Ready, Sex, Go, was a fantastic album, but didn't live up to Hey! Album for me. When I heard that the Marvelous 3 disbanded, I was heartbroken. Every so often, I get on a Marvelous 3 kick, play those albums from start to finish, and wish the band was still together.
7 years and two months later, I see an ad on MySpace for Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonite's. For the last couple of years, I'd keep hearing about Butch Walker, who I knew was the lead singer for Marvelous 3, becoming this go-to producer for a variety of artists. But, I wasn't aware he was still making music for himself. Excitedly, I rushed over to my local Circuit City on my lunch break and purchased "The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonites" with the same giddy feeling I had buying Hey! Album.
The music floored me. It showed such an amazing variety of influences and sounds. It's so grown and a little different sounding than Marvelous 3, but stays true to the style and sound of Butch's earlier days.
I was more floored by the fact that Walker had been releasing solo albums for a few years. One day after I bought "The Rise and Fall..." I purchased "Left of Self-Centered" and "Letters" (Butch Walker's other two solo albums) and I have to say, I'm not sure which of the 3 solo efforts I like best. Each one has something different to offer. There are tracks that make me feel like a million bucks when I listen to them (Alicia Amnesia, Hot Girls in Good Moods, Uncomfortably Numb), and then there are songs that just make me feel (When Canyons Ruled the World, Promise, Take Tomorrow (One Day at a Time)).
If you really want to get a sense of just who Butch Walker is, find the Live at Budokan DVD and watch the bonus Atlanta concert. Fucking brilliant. This guy can play anything. In fact, on his first solo CD, Left of Self-Centered, he wrote, produced, arranged, and PLAYED everything on it!
Download, purchase, or burn copies of his songs if you're looking for some new music to get into. I suggest you start with anything off of Hey! Album by Marvelous 3.
Here's one from Left of Self-Centered.
Take Tomorrow (One Day at a Time)
You got lost for a while.
You've been trying to find a smile.
You got stood up, then you fell down,
And when you needed, there was no one 'round.
You loved the previews and hate the movie.
You scream at the screen, "Something move me!"
before you start to fade away.
Give me all your fear, Throw it all away.
And think about the good things, no matter what they say,
We'll take tomorrow, baby, yeah,
One day at a time.
You just stare into space,
you found love but it got erased,
you're on the road with all the stoplights,
And you're too afraid to turn the wrong from right.
You ate your soul and it made ya fat,
Starve yourself from everything else that makes you completely full.
So give me all your fear, throw it all away.
Think about the good things, no matter what they say.
We'll take tomorrow, baby, yeah,
One day at a time.
So you run, so you hide,
And you watched as they die,
They all fell, you could fall too,
Or you could sew your wings and try to fly right through.
Give me all your fear, throw it all away.
Think about the good things, no matter what they say.
We'll take tomorrow, baby, yeah,
One day at a time.