Seven!

Just a quick post tonight as it´s my daughter´s seventh birthday tomorrow and we still have to inflate tons of balloons, get streamers and decorations up, bake the cake and finetune the party. As my daughter´s name just happens to be Joni, tonight´s theme is easy though.

Let´s start with Sonic Youth and Hey Joni, from their classic Daydream Nation (´88). Guitars all over the place. "Tune out the past and just say yes." Lee Ranaldo once remarked the song "was some wry take on Hendrix´s Hey Joe, but I was definitely listening to a lot of Joni Mitchell at the time." For some reason Neil Young never recorded Sweet Joni, an obvious tribute to fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell. He played it live only once, in Bakersfield on March 11 1973. We can only hope a decent soundboard recording of this gem will show up on his Archives Collection sometime. And speaking of Joni Mitchell, here she is herself singing Coyote (from Hejira, ´76). Competition is tough, but this one would definitely make my personal Joni Mitchell top ten.

It may be just a little far-fetched to put up a song by The Birthday Party in this context, but what the heck. Big Jesus Trashcan comes from the Junkyard album (´82), so way before Nick Cave started to sport that silly moustache. Tracy Pew´s bass is amazing. Last up is Dutch pride Bettie Serveert with the classic Kid´s Alright from their debut Palomine (´92). Because she is. Happy birthday kiddo!

Sonic Youth - Hey Joni MP3

Neil Young - Sweet Joni (live 11-3-´73 Bakersfield) MP3

Joni Mitchell - Coyote MP3

The Birthday Party - Big Jesus Trashcan MP3

Bettie Serveert - Kid´s Allright MP3