Green Monkey Music Project: ROYGBIV
For Splotchy's latest Green Monkey Music Project, he's looking for colorful songs. Since I enjoy seeing - and hearing - what comes out of GMMP and it also motivates me to post on my blog, I signed up for this round. I dug through my brain's trove of pop culture obscurities and came up with songs that are either pop classics or relatively unknown tunes.
Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!) - Garbage
Garbage is one of my all time favorite bands. This quirky little number seems to be about a boy that keeps getting mistaken for a girl because of his "cherry lips and golden curls." The song is what I like to call "cheerleader rock": a chant-like chorus and a beat that lends itself to being part of a cheer, fight song or rallying cry. Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" and Toni Basil's classic "Hey Mickey" are two examples of cheerleader rock.
Yellow - Coldplay
I could have sworn "Yellow" was used in a Volkswagen ad several years ago, but my Google searches suggest otherwise. In any event the song was still ubiquitous in 2000 and while I like the song, I rarely go out of my way to listen to it.
Everything's Gone Green - New Order
I got turned on to New Order late in the game, when Substance 87 came out. I saw them at Meriwether Post Pavilion along with Public Image Ltd. and the Sugarcubes - awesome, fun show. This song is part of the soundtrack for my college years.
Ocean Blue - ABC
ABC's album How to Be a Zillionaire is best known for "Be Near Me" and "How to Be a Millionaire." This little tune has been one of my favorites because it always gives me this sense of being at the ocean, watching the waves roll in.
Goldfinger - Shirley Bassey
This tune is one of my favorite James Bond songs, from one of my favorite Bond flicks. Shirley's singing of "Gold-FING-GAH" is so dramatic it makes me laugh. It also makes me skulk around the room, pretending I'm a super spy.
Black on Black II - Heart
I just checked out the 2-disc album The Essential Heart from the local library over the weekend and this song happened to be on there. I'm not crazy about the lyrics for this song but the tune is great.
White Lines - Duran Duran
I wasn't very familiar with the original version by Grandmaster Flash - I don't recall hearing it on the Top 40 stations I listened to during the 80s. I did get to hear Simon LeBon do this song at the House of Blues in 2000. He really enjoyed singing/rapping this number and the crowd loved it as well. For that reason, I'm picking Duran Duran's version.
Back in 2007 I did a 

















