Tags
Bob Dylan, Elliott Smith, iron maiden, Jesus Christ Superstar, Lyle Lovett, murder, music, Nick Cave, songs, Sonny and Cher, The Beatles, The Handsome Family, The Smiths
Me at KMSU. Photo by Joe Tougas.
On April 3, my longtime friend Joe Tougas let me co-host his 3 p.m. Friday radio show on KMSU. The theme? Murder ballads. Really, there’s no one else he could have asked to co-host, right?
Here’s our playlist. What do you think?
“Heaven on their Minds” from Jesus Christ Superstar. (Joe)
“A Cowboy’s Work is Never Done,” Sonny and Cher. (Joe)
“Where the Wild Roses Grow,” Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue. (Joe)
“Suffer Little Children,” The Smiths. (Rachael) More information here about the Moors murders in Manchester, 1963-65. I met a cab driver in Bath who had been a prison guard. He said he got the willies only twice in his entire career upon meeting a prisoner. One was Ian Brady. “I saw pure evil in his eyes,” Robin told me.
“Ballad of Hollis Brown,” Bob Dylan. (Joe)
“Arlene,” The Handsome Family. (Joe)
“Son of Sam,” Elliott Smith. (Rachael)
“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” The Beatles. (Joe)
“L.A. County,” Lyle Lovett. (Joe)
“Murder in the Rue Morgue,” Iron Maiden. (Rachael, via David Hanel. Not a ballad, but a great song about murder. I prefer the Bruce Dickinson live version, not the Paul Di’Anno studio version.
What do you think of our picks? What would you suggest?
Joe at the mic. Photo by author.
Coffee. Joe let me read the section in my book about my true crime fascination.
If You Have Five Seconds to Spare 
“Wind and Rain” by Crooked Still (Shaken by a Low Sound, 2006) –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaken_by_a_Low_Sound That band has any number of murder songs, many very old and traditional, which is a way to say there is nothing new under the sun or something like that.