Now, I am generally not one to embrace the festivities - but tis the season, and all that!
Like my daughter's college buses - you wait for a while, and then two show up back to back. And they are totally packed. Why have one loosely themed festive / winter themed playlist, when you can have two?
As is the case with many of these playlists, the trigger is hearing a song for the first time in ages and then trying to shoehorn a playlist theme around it. We know that dogs are a humans best friend, and that people for some reason buy them as Christmas presents (hence the unfortunate expression in the title). So, instead of buying a dog and then abandoning it - lets have a playlist that celebrates them. Very loosely.
1. Elvis Presley: Hound Dog
This may just be the first time that the King has featured in one of our playlists! From the hugely prolific writing partnership that was Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, came Hound Dog, originally recorded by Big Mama Thornton in 1952.
It is regarded as one of the key records in the development of rock n roll and has been recorded over 250 times. But we will go with the best known of them here: Elvis Presley's version was based on the one done by Freddie Bell & The Bellboys (who he saw playing it live at The Sands in Las Vegas), and which he performed for the first time himself in May 1956. It would remain his main set closing song through to the late 60s. He recorded it in the July of that year, and it was released that same month, initially as the B-Side of Don't Be Cruel. Through different releases, it would become one of the biggest selling songs of all time, clocking up an incredible 10 million sales worldwide! In the end, Elvis's version was little like the original - much more amped up and with many lyrical changes (Leiber and Stoller complained a bit to begin with, but when they saw their royalty cheques come in....).
Elvis Presley: Hound Dog (Live on Ed Sullivan, 1956 - one of those electrifying early performances that got him in trouble for being too risqué)
2. The Beatles: Hey Bulldog
We jump from the most famous artist of the 1950s, to probably the most famous of the 60s. Although this was, as per usual, credited to the Lennon-McCartney partnership, it seems that John Lennon was the primary architect of this song. It was recorded while they worked on a promotional film for Lady Madonna, and like that song, is one of their rare tunes based around a piano riff. It was originally known as Hey Bullfrog and was written as United Artists wanted another song for the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. It was in the studio as they worked on the song, when Paul McCartney tried to make Lennon laugh by barking, that the song's title was changed to Bulldog.
The Beatles: Hey Bulldog (Promo video)
3. Johnny Cash: Dirty Old Egg Sucking Dog
Crazy name, crazy song! This novelty tune was written by Jack Clement and fittingly enough, appears on Cash's 1966 novelty album, Everybody Loves A Nut. It is also one of the songs Cash performed at his legendary Folsom Prison performance in early 1968. The song is a cartoonish tale of a dog that kills the narrator's chickens and so is threatened with the ultimate sanction!
Johnny Cash: Dirty Old Egg Sucking Dog (Audio only)
Or, perhaps enjoy this version from The Muppets, 1981 - here
4. Alvvays: Pomeranian Spinster
Okay, this is clearly not strictly (or at all) about a dog - but a Pomeranian is definitely a dog breed (a little fluffy Spitz type dog named after the region on the German-Polish border), and I like this song, so it's in! The song, by Canadian indie poppers Alvvays, is actually about not being nice and polite just because society says you have to - and instead, to stand up for yourself and dictate ones own choices. It is also a banger.
Alvvays: Pomeranian Spinster (Audio only)
5. Slightly Stoopid: Collie Man
Another specific dog breed reference for this one. Slightly Stoopid are a reggae-punk band from San Diego, formed in 1994 by childhood friends Miles Doughty and Kyle McDonald. Collie Man is the laid back closing track from their third album, 2003s Everything You Need. A clue to the fact that the collie in question here is not a dog - collie is Jamaican slang for marijuana!
Slightly Stoopid: Collie Man (Live at Roberto's TRI Studio)
6. Guided By Voices: Bulldog Skin
I mentioned last time that Bob Pollard has written so many songs, that there must be pretty much one to fit every theme imaginable - and here we prove that point.
It is 1997 - the first of the 'classic' Guided By Voices line-ups (including long time co-songwriter Tobin Sprout) had dissolved, and so prolific man of words, Robert Pollard was looking for a new crew, He went across state (Ohio) and got the band Cobra Verde onboard to be his backing band and de facto new GBV - and this was to be the full beginning for a working relationship with guitarist Doug Gillard, which with a few years out along the way, continues to this day. Like so many of his classic songs, Bulldog Skin is full of big power chords, hooks and abstract lyrics - like a mini-British invasion all in one song.
Guided By Voices: Bulldog Skin (Live on MTV Oddville, 1997)
7. Crowded House: Lester
Generally, those B-Sides and outtake albums that artists put out midway through their career, are purely for the hardcore fan. But when a band as great as Crowded House and a songwriter as immensely talented as Neil Finn puts one out, you really should take note. Afterglow, which came out in 1999 (a few years after their original split), contained a number of B-Sides, demos and assorted rarities, recorded between 1985 and 1995.
There are many bands for whom, if they put this album out, it would represent their greatest record - their absolute pinnacle. So, it says much about Crowded House that despite the quality across the board, most of these songs never saw a regular studio album. Having said that, you might argue that Lester is a bit of throwaway tune - but it fits the bill, as it is about the Finn family's faithful hound (a dalmatian) and his brush with death. And yet it is a beautiful and touchingly simple ode to the human - dog relationship.
Neil Finn: Lester (Beautiful acoustic live version from 2002)
8. David Bowie: Diamond Dogs
The title track of David Bowie's 1974 album, sees him introduce us to his latest persona, Halloween Jack. It also sees him start to shift away from the glam rock sound of the previous few records, and adopt a slightly grittier blues / proto-punk sound (a little bit like the Stones meets Iggy Pop). At almost six minutes long, and quite bleak, Diamond Dogs was perhaps an unusual choice for a single, and perhaps that is why it only made number 21 in the UK (and wasn't released at all in the US).
David Bowie: Diamond Dogs (Audio only)
9. Thus Love: Put On Dog
This band from Brattleboro, Vermont, burst into a post-pandemic world with a couple of great singles including this one. Put On Dog is a joyous mix of glam and punk - think the New York Dolls meet Pixies. The band describe the single; “In the 1920s, ‘Put on the Dog’ was a term coined to express putting on your finery and dressing to the nines. From the old twenties to new twenties, we’re bringing it back, but for the gays this time.”
Thus Love: Put On Dog (Official music video)
10. Led Zeppelin: Black Dog
The black dog of the title was a random black labrador that the band used to see wandering the grounds of the Headley Grange studio they were recording at. The dog would disappear all night and sleep all day, which led vocalist and songwriter, Robert Plant, to believe that it was off to be with its lady friend every evening - and so the lyrics reflected this, but with human protagonists. Jimmy Page borrowed the call and response concept between Plant and the band, from Fleetwood Mac's 1969 blues banger, Oh Well.
Led Zeppelin: Black Dog (Live at Madison Square Gardens, 1973)
11. The Stooges: I Wanna Be Your Dog
As I believe is customary at this time of year - here is a bonus track - and what a doozy it is! This was the debut single from the debut album by Michigan's The Stooges. It features the heavily distorted churning guitar sound that leads many to refer to this as one of the original proto-punk songs. Ron Asheton's heavy riff, backed by the insistent single note piano (provided by producer - the Velvet Underground's John Cale), underlay Iggy Pop's menacing vocals. An absolute classic...
The Stooges: I Wanna Be Your Dog (Audio only - an intense experience)
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