I forsee terrible trouble

I think it's a pretty safe bet that had I still been running Vinyl Club (and I must admit I haven't ruled out bringing it back) that the Dan would have made a further appearnace. Would I have gone for 1977's Aja - their imperious slab of Yacht Rock? Maybe. But more likely, I think, I'd have reached a bit further back to their 1972 debut, the fully formed Can't Buy a Thrill - a statement of intent par excellence. This album really did raise the bar for everything and everyone that followed. If, heaven forbid, you found yourself on Death Row on your final day on earth savouring a final meal of your choice with a last brandy & cigar complete with your bespoke soundtrack, the chances are the tune below would still be ringing in your ears as you fried in the chair. Proper little ray of sunshine, aren't I?

I've never needed an excuse to play the delightful Elle Cordova and Toni Lindgren. Their musicianship, be it original compositions or classic covers, is absolutely jaw dropping. And this Steely Dan reinterpretation is no exception. It could originally be found on side one, track two on the aforementioned album. But as you can see in this video it is vey much at home on a balcony at 8,000 feet. 

Elle Cordova & Toni Lindgren - Dirty Work (2025)

This means nothing to me

Maybe it's because I feel myself getting older faster than at any other time in my life, but I find that I'm being reeled in by so many poignant song lyrics. None more so, currently, than Billy Joel's Vienna. A song he released in 1977 (when I was just sixteen) that encapsulates life: a life to savour, a life to enjoy - if the sixty-three year old me could have torn the sixteen year old me away from the Sex Pistols long enough to listen to this then maybe he'd have learned a valuable lesson: "Slow down you're doing fine, you can't be everything you want to be before your time." Then again, since when did sixteen year olds listen to anything anybody over the age of thirty tell them?

Joel himself explains what he thinks it's all about but, once again, the version I want to play for you today is by Elle Cordova & Toni Lindgren...

Elle & Toni - Vienna (2024)

 

"I'm not in love" (he said, lying)

When someone describes themselves as a self professed 'English major nerd with a penchant for sci-fi TV shows' I'm already willing them to win and definitely have a foot in their camp. And in the case of Elle Cordova (aka Reina del Cid) I'm also, ever so slightly, in love. In love with her, her music, her guitar playing and her musical partner Toni Lindgren. Here they both are playing an intimate little set on Caffe Lena TV. (See how they overcome the 'false start': this is precisely why I find them so endearing.)

Runner in the Sun (2023)

Every Sunday morning under the moniker "Elle & Toni" on their YouTube channel they drink coffee (Coffee Cheers!) and play a new song (originals and covers). It's a great format. I've gone with three essential covers. The first is a classic Chuck Berry tune:

C'est la Vie (You Never Can Tell)

Next up I've gone for their version of a song that dominated the charts in 1971/2 and went gold in America for Melanie with sales in excess of 1M. Blimey!

Brand New Key

And finally, here is probably one of the sweetest, heart tugging versions of a Simon & Garfunkel song I think I've ever heard. Don't worry about the chit-chat at the beginning and the plug for Kyser capos, they soon get stuck in to the song...

The Sound of Silence