Saturday, April 4, 2009

A Tribute to Boom Boom

I love the rockabilly, so was delighted to discover this neo-rockabilly tune, "Johnny Got a Boom Boom" by Dublin-born singer, Imelda May, backed by a hot band. I particularly like the slappy bass and the use of the traditional bodhran.



That inspired me to search for other tunes with either "Boom," "Boom Boom," or "Boom Boom Boom" in the title. Believe me when I tell you there are plenty -- often in conjunction with the word, "shake." This one is a classic from bluesmaster John Lee Hooker, a master of the driving rhythm and tapping toes.



I didn't want to post a variety of covers of the same "Boom Boom" song, but couldn't resist Springsteen's cover of the Hooker song. (There's also a nice version by the Animals ca. 1965, but I'll save that for a separate Animals/Eric Burdon post in the future). This is The Boss stripped down to his rock 'n roll heart in the mid-90s. The tune is about two minutes too long, but has a fun finish to it and Bruce rocks the telecaster.



Just for fun, let's hear from the fabulous pair of parodists from New Zealand, Flight of the Conchords, with "She's So Hot Boom."



I'll close with a tune from a Thai techno/hip-hop group, Buddha Bless, playing "Bump Boom Boom" from its album, "Gancore Club 2." I won't pretend to be a fan--I just tripped across them in my search for Boom Boom. I asked Google to translate listener comments about the band from a Thai website, then used a selection to compose this poem:

Cymbal sound with a slow tempo
then fire, then a mother dress.
Perfectly capturing the wistful song dog
[ball well] Birth.

Love song to the fight,
only you dance to music from the sea cock.
Rave music for the quick draw
to the top of the card.

Fire environments because they love
music, not the Sikh face.
Wistful lyric dog fight.

These factors are very beautiful music...
music for women who like this trip close.
To love music because it is good and
portals like flowers bloom.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Flight of the Conchords, with "She's So Hot Boom," had me laughing pretty hard, but the juxtaposition with the Buddha Bless video was simply delicious!

I'm enjoying the ride so far, bro!
Amy

MightyToyCannon said...

The Flight of the Conchords is always a guaranteed laugh! YouTube has plenty of clips if you're up for more!