I thought about preaching the gospel as I understand it or pointing you in the direction of a world wonder. Briefly I thought about a conceptual post on the importance of being tight. Or gloriously loose. I thought about posting clips of great artists paying homage to great artists. And that's when it hit me. I should really just focus on a single great song: Misirlou.
I somehow doubt that most folks who first encountered this tune by way of the Pulp Fiction soundtrack know it's actually a Greek song with heavy Turkish influences about an Islamic Egyptian girl who's loved--though it's probably taboo-- by a white Christian.
Nobody really knows who wrote Misirlou but it was first recorded in 1927 by Greek band leader Michalis Patrinos. Patrinos' recording is mysterious and engaging but long-feeling and a little limp. Who could have imagined that this serpentine melody would go on to have such a life. Over the past 80 years Misirlou has become a Greek standard...
And a favorite among belly dancers
It's become part of the repertoire of performers ranging from Connie Francis...
To Korla Pandit, a groundbreaking oddity and early TV star/innovator.
Misirlou was embraced by the Klezmer Community and the stereo-obsessed makers of Exotica and Spaceage pop.
It's also a classic rock and roll instrumental recorded by surf rock pioneer Dick Dale in 1962.
He still plays the hell out of it today.
And I'm outta here...
UPDATE: The most excellent Sharon Cobb informs us that the Beach Boys were underrated. Huh? I wish I was underrated to the tune of 36 charted songs and one of the most influential albums in the history of recorded sound. True, Pet Sounds didn't sell as well as one might imagine but that was mostly the fault of Capital records who didn't know how to market the landmark recording. It was so underrated by The Beatles they felt compelled to craft Sgt. Pepper* just to prove their worth.
*which--blasphemy of blasphemy-- I can barely tolerate. I liked these pre-pepper guys better.
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