Tag Archives: too

#1395: The Who – Too Much of Anything

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You remember how I wrote about another track by The Who maybe a couple weeks ago? ‘Time Is Passing’, that was the one. Well, copy and paste the first paragraph from that post and replace that song’s title with today’s, and the facts almost remain the same. ‘Too Much of Anything’ was another tune written by Pete Townshend, in his Lifehouse mode, 1970 to 1971. He went a bit barmy. Lifehouse was abandoned. Who’s Next was made out of its remains. Odds & Sods was released in 1974, prepared by bass guitarist John Entwistle while the other three members were preparing for work on the Tommy film. Unlike ‘Time Is Passing’, ‘Too Much…’ was available to hear on the original ’74 edition. The above video is the version from the ’98 reissue. It’s meant to be a remix too, but I don’t hear too much difference between it and what was released in the ’70s. Maybe you can.

By the time Pete Townshend was writing ‘Too Much…’, The Who’s newest album out for the public to consume was this little rock opera thing called Tommy. The band were shot into another stratosphere in its wake. Being the main songwriter and guitarist in one of the biggest rock bands in the world, I think it’s fair to say Pete Townshend could have anything handed to him on a plate without even asking. Really, anything. And clearly today’s subject was written during a time when it was all a bit overwhelming. There’s not much explanation that needs to be done when it comes to the lyrics, meaning what you read is all that’s being said. The words are very autobiographical, even if they were meant to be from the perspective of a character in the Lifehouse story. And the overall result is a somewhat upbeat-sounding track that ponders upon the effects of overexposure, with a great singalong chorus to string it all together too.

Apparently, the only reason ‘Too Much…’ wasn’t on Who’s Next or released as a standalone single was because Townshend found it hypocritical for a bunch of hedonists to be delivering a song, with the subject matter it has, to the masses. But I’ve only recently figured out how sort of similar, musically, it is to ‘Getting in Tune’, which did make it onto Who’s Next. Both songs have moments where they go into double time. Both end in a key higher than how they initially start. Perhaps someone in the band or the producer noticed this and a decision was made. To be honest, if it were up to me, ‘Too Much…’ would have taken the spot, for sure. But ‘Getting in Tune’ is all right. Also, maybe they didn’t like how the track turned out when they recorded it in 1971, ’cause it sounded like this at first, but a few years later there it was on Odds & Sods with a new/alternate Daltrey vocal and an edit that cut out a few extra measures near the end. Just throwing out theories here. But at the end of the day, it’s a song I like. All that counts.

#1394: Paul & Linda McCartney – Too Many People

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It was 2010. A year on from the Beatles: Rock Band game release, interest about that and how great The Beatles were in general was still at what felt like an all-time high. At least, that’s if you were a member on the Harmonix / Rock Band forums back in the day, which I was. There was a really cool community around that place. A thing that got people together and all creative-like was mash-ups, influenced by the LOVE album made by George and Giles Martin for the Cirque du Soleil show. I go into a lot more depth regarding these in this post I did many years back. For one specific mash-up “album”, I thought it would be a good idea to blend the ‘diss tracks’ of George Harrison’s ‘Wah-Wah’, John Lennon’s ‘How Do You Sleep?’ and the Paul & Linda McCartney’s ‘Too Many People’. The result… well, hear it for yourself. I don’t think it’s too bad, actually. A little abrupt in the changes, maybe. It belongs in the 2010s.

So I heard ‘Too Many People’ way before I got round to listening to Ram from front to back. I think it was a couple years that I did. It’s the first song on there, and what a way to start the album off. “Piss off, caa-haay-hay-hayy-hay-haayy-haaake” and then a bunch of cutesy vocalizations. Interesting. The ascending guitar lick adds a bit of mystery. And then after a few chord strums, the song properly gets underway. Over a groovy bassline, Paul McCartney provides some social commentary. He sees these activities people are doing, too many of these people, and he doesn’t get it. Among these activities are: losing weight, going underground, waiting for that lucky break. Etcetera, etcetera. A great vocal performance – “too many HUNGRY PEOPLE.. LOSING WEEEIGHT” – one of my favourite parts. A lot of grit mixed with a fantastic melody. Linda McCartney adds some gusto with those “Piece of cake / Lucky break” harmonies. It’s a bit of a list song, and at the end he more or less states he’s had enough of what he’s seeing. Thinks it’s all a bit silly. And everything’s capped off with a minute long instrumental for the outro to shake out the jams.

Got to address the elephant in the room, though. That being how the track was a shot at his old bandmate and songwriting partner, John Lennon. Particularly the “You took your lucky break and broke it in two” and “Too many people preaching practices” lines. Lennon took great umbrage to that, writing ‘How Do You Sleep?’ in response. A nasty track, that one. Not too much fun to listen to, which I think is its point. Me, I prefer ‘Too Many People’ ’cause it’s the exact opposite. And with all that beef aside, the song feels like a statement of intent for what’s to follow on Ram. You know, the preceding McCartney album is okay, but apart from ‘Every Night’ and ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’… maybe ‘Junk’ too, it felt more like a collection of ideas rather than full-fleshed songs. But Ram is the real deal. So many strong songs with variety, a lot of surprises, and McCartney exploring ranges and tones in his vocals that he’d rarely go to again in further releases. It all begins with ‘Too Many People’.

#656: The Streets – It’s Too Late

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Mike Skinner wrote two great break-up/end of relationship songs, that I know of, in the early 2000s. One that everyone knows is ‘Dry Your Eyes’, a track that almost every man can relate to – so much so that it reached number one in the UK charts 15 years ago. The other one that people might not know so well is ‘It’s Too Late’, an album cut from The Streets’ debut Original Pirate Material in 2002. Both contain the use of strings to add some emotional weight though I’m sure that’s all coincidental.

‘Too Late’ is from the perspective of a guy who had numerous warnings that this break-up was going to occur. All right there in the first verse the situation’s explained. His girl asks him to meet him somewhere. Narrator instead goes to meet mates and smoke some weed and as a result is late to the meet-up location. The girl has told him before that one day she would leave if he messed up again. He didn’t take the threat too seriously. Ignorance is bliss and all that. The second verse seems to show the narrator trying to make up for this by trying to show up on time in one last chance sort of thing. In the final verse though, he asks her to meet him. She doesn’t arrive. It’s safe to assume that it’s too late to make amends.

I can’t remember when it was that I listened to this song and thought “wow, this is actually great I’m going to add it to my phone so I can hear it all the time”. Mike Skinner’s voice may not be for everyone. His delivery is unapologetically British. I myself don’t mind it. Well…. the way he tries to rhyme ‘there’ and ‘beer’ around one minute and twenty seconds in is…. not too great. The female vocal in the chorus is okay, not too much to my likin’. But even if you don’t vibe with the vocals so much, just listen to those strings. There’s a great sadness and sense of reminiscence to them. They loop and play the same melody throughout the entire thing, bar some points where the dissonant ambient tones come in, but they never get tiresome which is always a good thing. Most definitely the emotional centrepiece of the entire album.

My iPod #26: The Rakes – All Too Human

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Hello everybody.

The Rakes were an indie band that broke up in 2009 after the release of their album ‘Klang’.

Again I was introduced to them by MTV2. I’ve said many a time that MTV2 was a great channel to watch back in 2005-2006. Without it I definitely wouldn’t be as ecelectic as I am in my musical tastes, if I do say so myself.

The Rakes released their debut album ‘Capture/Release’ in August 2005, and originally this song wasn’t on it. It was only when they released it as a standalone single the following year, that the band decided to re-release the album with ‘All Too Human’ listed as the final track.

The video premiered on MTV2 as part of its ‘New Releases’. I haven’t actually watched it in a long time, so I can’t really remember what’s happens. From its thumbnail, I can see that it’s black and white.

The song itself is very good in my own bias opinion. The narrator has been in a relationship that is failing in front of his eyes, and he’s now pining with self-pity. He knows that she would be fine without him, but knowing this makes him feel even worse.

However morose and depressing that sounds, the key and the melody has a very light tone. The ending of the song  uses vocals from all members of the band chanting ‘Human, All Too Human’, providing a satisfying conclusion to the song and the album.

‘Capture/Release’ received quite a bit of praise on its release, so if you’re into Arctic Monkeys, The Futureheads, Bloc Party – bands like that, you might like the album.

Want to listen to more songs by them? Here are three.

Until next time.

Jamie.