#but it's the 70s so I'm sticking with dolly

[sugarbear2001]

Wally and Eddie dance to Dolly Parton songs together. Eddie also shows Wally some line dancing steps and buys him a pair of cowboy boots as a gift.

[pleasantlyinsincere]

Hi, I was wondering if you know what music John was a fan of in the late 70’s? I’m aware of him being excited about the B52’s, and I’m assuming he liked David Bowie and Elton John’s music in part because they were his friends in addition to obviously being talented. And I think I read once that Julian turned him onto Queen but tbh that may be me misremembering a fanfic lol I just wonder if there’s anything out there that describes what John’s music tastes was in those days or whether he preferred to stick with his favorite classics; early rock and roll, girl groups ect. Like what did he think about the punk scene in NY?? Or the close harmonies a la Fleetwood Mac that dominated the charts? Just things I think about haha.

Hi, thanks for the question. I know that I skipped through a book called John Lennon: 1980 playlist by Tim English before, that may be a good source for you. Here's some random info, that I remembered where to look up. I think Julian introducing John to Queen comes from the SPIN magazine interview in '75:

[Julian] likes Barry White and he likes Gilbert O’ Sullivan. He likes Queen, though I haven’t heard them yet. He turns me on to music. I call him and he says, “Have you heard Queen?” and I say “No, what is it?” I’ve heard of them. I’ve seen the guy … the one who looks like Hitler playing a piano … Sparks? I’ve seen Sparks on American TV. So I call him and say, “Have you seen Sparks? Hitler on the piano?” and he says, “No. They are alright. But have you seen Queen?” and I say “What’s Queen?” and then he tells me. His age group is hipper to music … at 11 I was aware of music, but not too much.

But then there is also an anecdote, I think by Tony Barrow, that John didn't want to sign Queen to Apple years earlier? However that may be a lie, or John just didn't remember.

Yoko gifted John a jukebox for his birthday in '78 and apparently John filled it with the old music he liked. Elliott Mintz says there was quite some Bing Crosby. And I remember John also putting some new song by Dolly Parton in there.

"Yoko gave him this old-fashioned jukebox and John stocked it with Bing Crosby records. People kind of expected him to have rock 'n' roll records in there, but it was almost totally Crosby stuff. There were 3 songs which John played over and over. I still remember them. They were Crosby with a jazz quartet from the 50's, I think. He would banter and talk in the songs and John thought that was just the end. The songs were Whispering, I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter and Dream a Little Dream of Me. Yeah, those were the songs, I can still see John listening to them." - Elliott Mintz

“The one modern song I remember him listening to was ‘The Tide Is High’ by Blondie, which he played constantly. When I hear that song, I see my father, unshaven, his hair pulled back into a ponytail, dancing to and fro in a worn-out pair of denim shorts, with me at his feet, trying my best to coordinate tiny limbs.” - Sean Lennon

One night we were playing at Max's (Kansas City) in New York City, and I was waiting for everyone to leave the club so I could go back in and pick up my gear. We were sitting in the van waiting and John Lennon and Ian Hunter from Mott the Hoople came staggering out and looked over. John Lennon saw it was me and stuck his head in the window. He was kind of drunk and stuck his face right against mine and went 'yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah' because he recognized it (Devo's song Uncontrollable Urge) as being an updating of She Loves You. That was one of my most exciting moments ever. - Mark Mothersbaugh on John coming to a DEVO gig in '77

PB: John, what is your opinion of the newer waves? Lennon: I love all this punky stuff. It's pure. I'm not, however, crazy about the people that destroy themselves. Playboy interview, 1980

I like pop records. I like Olivia Newton-John singing "Magic" and Donna Summer whatever the hell she'll be singing. I like ELO singing "All over the World". I can dissect it and criticize it with any critic in the business...But without any thought I enjoy it! That's the kind of music I like to hear. - John

John Lennon raced into Yoko Ono’s home office in the mammoth old Dakota building with a copy of Donna Summer’s new single, “The Wanderer.” “Listen!” he shouted to us as he put the 45 on the record player. “She’s doing Elvis!” I didn’t know what he was talking about at first. The arrangement felt more like rock than the singer’s usual electro-disco approach, but the opening vocal sure sounded like Donna Summer to me. Midway through the song, however, her voice shifted into the playful, hiccuping style Elvis had used on so many of his early recordings. “See! See!” John shouted, pointing at the speakers. The record was John’s way of saying hello again after five years. [...] It was just weeks before his death in December of 1980, and his playing the Summer record was an endearing greeting -- and one that was typical of John. Of the hundreds of musicians I’ve met, John was among the most down-to-earth. Corn Flakes with John Lennon (And Other Tales From a Rock ‘n’ Roll Life) by Robert Hilburn

"I'm aware of ... Madness. "Don't do that. Do this." (As on the spoken word intro to "One Step Beyond".) I think that is the most original thing actually because it's so peculiar. ... Out of all that mob I think that was one of the most original sounds. Very good drumming, very good bass and all of that." Andy Peebles interview

And things I don't have quotes for right now: I remember Bob Gruen had given John some video compilation of punk bands, that John enjoyed watching. In one of the last interviews John said Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen was a great song. There are the albums John asked Fred Seaman to buy on his shopping lists. Some are printed in The John Lennon Letters (Though I'm not sure that means he liked them, but at least was interested in.) Lot's of Bob Dylan talk in the diaries and parodies. Many anecdotes about reggae bands. In the Double Fantasy studio recording John references quite some songs and artists, when he tells the musicians what they are aiming for in the songs.

[sapphossparenoterbook]

Succubi

Agatha Harkness x Jennifer Kale, minor Agatha Harkness x Rio Vidal

For @hannah-0730!! I hope you like it, I tried to stick to your original post as much as possible!

For anyone interested, the original post is here

Agatha has lived a long, long life, which is why she has had thousands upon thousands of fake identities to protect her actual identity. She had thought, of course, that nobody had ever caught on to the fact that she has been at many historical events, and had a few slightly less important events crafted around her. That’s why she’s so stunted when Billy suddenly asks:

“Agatha? Is it true that you’re Jolene? Like… THE Jolene, from the Dolly Parton song?” 

Suddenly, memories from her life in the 70’s take hold, and she phases out thinking about how she had actually been intending to seduce Dolly and not her stupid, ugly boyfriend or whatever they were at that point. She’d earned a slap for that, and Rio had pretty much instantly known who the song was about, and it caused them to have another few years of affairs again. That was very fun, Rio gets sexy when she’s jealous…

Suddenly, Agatha’s trip down memory lane is rudely abrupt by the annoying, snarky drawl of Jennifer Kale. If it wasn’t for her running her mouth all the time, she’d be hot as fuck–no, she is definitely still hot as fuck, but she’d be even more so. 

“Billy, don’t be stupid, why would anyone like Agatha enough to mumble her pseudonym in his sleep– and why would Dolly Parton be intimidated enough to write a song about that old hag, of all people!” 

Agatha is using her magic before she even clocks what she’s doing, but she’s sick and tired of Jen running her mouth and getting no consequence for it, and it won’t exactly hurt the other woman in any way. 

“Something people don’t know about me…” Agatha says, stopping the group and moving so that she stands in front of Jen, slowly moving forward so that they’re chest to chest, her magic flaring out and manipulating the other witch into being much easier to seduce. 

“... is that I can be quite persuasive, when I wanna be, Jen” she draws out the second half of the sentence, letting her voice go deeper and more husky than usual, bringing her hand up to gently grab at Jen’s chin, and force her to stare directly into Agatha’s eyes. Jen gulps, and her eyes slightly widened, something Agatha can only notice from so close up. 

“Do you understand, Jen? Maybe you see where I'm coming from?” She asks, letting her thumb gently rub at the prominent bone of Jen’s jaw. 

Jen lets out a quiet squeak, or a squeal? And then she whispers out her response, “...yeah, I think so…” And Agatha can’t help the smirk she gives off when Jen’s head slightly starts to lean into her hand, and then Jen starts leaning in, slowly but definitely, and she closes her eyes and shudders when when Agatha instead leans over to her ear, “Aww, look at how quickly you broke, honey! Do you want some attention, is that it? Is that why you’re so grumpy and mean all the time, you just want love and attention,hm?” She speaks mockingly, but Jen definitely loves it, letting out another little squeak that this time is most definitely a moan. Jen leans in for another kiss, and Agatha teasingly pulls back again, and in the corner of her eye she sees Lilia cover Billy’s eyes as Jen whines and leans in quite quickly this time, and brings her into a kiss. 

It’s searing; desperate, and quite clear that Jen is definitely feeling the effects of her succubus powers–good. Agatha feels a sick and slightly twisted pleasure in being able to manipulate Jen this way, and takes control of the kiss, slipping her tongue into Jen’s mouth and kissing her deeper. 

At the sound of Jen letting off another moan, Agatha feels hands on her shoulders, forcefully ripping her away from Jen, and she turns with a huff to face–Rio. 

Rio, looking sexy and angry, and barely hiding both of those under a weak mask of control. “Agatha!” She shouts, the same tone for if she was telling off a naughty dog, “You’re wasting your powers! You need that energy!” Agatha can’t resist just rolling her eyes and attempting to push past Rio, but without the full strength of her powers, Rio easily stops her from getting away. “Stop being so bratty–what if there is an emergency, and you can't help anyone because you wanted to make Jen horny to piss her off? Huh?!” 

Agatha huffs again, side-eying Jen who is most definitely horny… her face is flushed and she’s got a slightly far away look in her eyes as she stares over at Agatha with none of the irritation and hatred her gaze usually holds when directed at the purple witch. 

“It was an emergency. She doubted my skills, and I needed to prove her wrong.”

“You know what I meant, Agatha! God!” She says, and huffs, barely hiding her jealousy. “An actual fucking emergency!” Agatha giggles, and glances at Jen once again, who is so clearly needy, and when Agatha and Rio return to walking down the road, she follows like a lost puppy. Lilia full on belly laughs at her, and Billy looks absolutely fucking disgusted at what just happened. And most definitely scarred for life. 

Rio occasionally throws some glares over her shoulder at Jen, and pulls Agatha closer to her whenever Jen looks back up at them. Totally not jealous!

[mydaroga]

Recent music meme

Tagged by @goldslick to post 10 songs I’ve had on repeat recently.

This will probably be embarrassing since I'm basically all Beatles/Macca all the time, but it's also weird because I don't really listen to things on repeat--I've been writing so I've just put my "writing albums" on here and I've also been listening to whole records mostly as I work through the catalog. Also I guess Tidal doesn't really keep track of listens? ANYWAY ENOUGH EXCUSES!

Long Tailed Winter Bird / Paul McCartney. Hey McCartney III is pretty good and I just dig this song a lot. I think this really is sticking with me because I didn’t expect old!Paul to have anything that would really reach out and while this isn’t like, revolutionary? I really dig the groove and I really love that he just went into the studio during lockdown and made something beautiful. I’ve been pulling this out to show people he’s still alive and stuff.

Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five / Wings. Honestly wasn’t expecting to love Wings? But this was one of those that hit me when I got to Band on the Run that I just had to crank up and play again. Hey this rocks!

Dear Boy / Paul McCartney. I swear I’ll get to something else eventually but yes I’m still obsessed with this song. I have no idea why except to me, there’s this really intoxicating mixture of sweetness and menace. I don’t mean the lyrics are menacing. I actually mean the unrelenting harmonies feel sinister to me and I know not everyone feels that but I love it.

Spirit of Eden and Colour of Spring, whole albums / Talk Talk. I know they’re mostly known for their one hit single, “It’s My Life,” which you might know from the also excellent No Doubt cover. But I’m putting both of these records on here because this is my primary “writing” music. I have never found anything nearly this good: they’re dynamic and beautiful but somehow not intrusive on my creative process. So it’s more than “ambient” but they don’t distract me and I can’t recommend them highly enough.

Stairway to Heaven / Dolly Parton. My dad sent me a link to this a few weeks ago and I can’t stop thinking about it. I cried the first time I listened to it. The original is one of my mom’s favorites, and I love it, but something about this really captures the spirit of the original but puts a whole new spin on it. There’s something about Dolly’s plaintive vocals and the way this song is somehow made for banjo that kills me.

Twist and Shout / The Beatles. Yes I know it’s a cover but there’s just something about this song that’s become quintessential early boys for me. There’s the obvious fact of John shredding his voice but that scream Paul does right before the last chorus is something else.

What Is Life / George Harrison. This is one of those songs I got to and had to just listen to over three times to remind myself that I was already in love with it without knowing who it was. I hadn’t heard it in AGES but when I put on All Things Must Pass for the first time, this is where it came home. Just a perfect song.

Day in the Life / The Beatles. I can’t say I’m sitting there with this literally on repeat, but I need something on this list to stand in for how I’m hearing their songs in a new way, with new feelings. This song was always genius, but it is so much more to me now and I’ve definitely sat with my ear to the speaker just trying to understand it better. And picking apart the alternate takes. Again. Can’t do it too much because actual crying.

Everybody’s Talkin’ / Harry Nilsson. Again this is sort of a stand-in for the fact that my other primary writing soundtrack is an embarrassing mix of mostly-70s pop and MOR. It’s comforting to me and it doesn’t get in the way of my wording. And this is one of those songs that, when I do hear it again, makes me realize how brilliant simplicity can be. And how you can put sweetness and longing and disillusion into three minutes. 

I’d like to say I listen to more modern music and I do but like, not by much. And right now I’m really unwilling to stray from the zone of either self-instruction or writing music, so there it is. Tagging (if you want!) @inspiteallthedanger , @merseydreams, @beatle-shampoo , @theoldmixer , @slettlune, @prettypersuasion , @brummelliana , @jeanpaul-georges-ringeaux, @gnocchichi and anyone else who wants me to add them!