Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio

With this triple play of Songs of the Week from the great Timmy Sean, we’re thinking–no, we’re sure–we’ll be up to date and ready to roll next week with the latest entry in this continually engaging and entertaining series.

In the meantime, here’s what’s been shakin’ out Timmy’s way the past few weeks:

“Baby, She’s Better than You” is a hard driving, dance-your-heart-out stab of early Elvisified and Jerry Lee Lewised boogie and roll. It’s like the Jordanaires met up with the King, Jerry Lee, and a thunderous cacophony of drums and cymbals, cymbals, cymbals. Hot and sweaty, the track punches the air with enough energy to power Las Vegas. Gee whiz, this is a powerhouse track–one of the best–certainly in the top 10–of all of the Songs of the Week we’ve heard so far.

Timmy says: “Well, here’s something a little different. I’ve always listened to a WIDE variety of music. I was born in the mid-80s, so as a kid I grew up loving everything that was on pop radio, everything from hip-hop to alternative (my first CD was C+C Music Factory). But my first real exposure to music came (as it does for most) from my family.

“What made this a little different from most is that my father and uncles are full-time musicians. In fact, they’ve starred for nearly 40 years in the world’s longest running Beatles tribute show, Long Live the Beatles. But they also have a show called Jukebox Heroes Live, an impersonation show featuring the music of (just to name a few) Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, Neil Diamond, the Everly Brothers, (and) Buddy Holly, in addition to the Beatles and more. So not only did I grow up with this music, I also began performing in this show in my early teens, and still continue to fly in from LA to play shows with them to this day… This is basically a very long-winded way of saying that early 50s and 60s rock ‘n’ roll truly is in my DNA in a way that’s probably pretty unique for someone my age.

“That brings us to this week’s song. One of the tributed acts in Jukebox Heroes is ‘The Killer himself,’ Jerry Lee Lewis. Though there’s little hints in this tune of a few other influences (ELO’s more rockabilly-tinged stuff in particular), ‘Baby, She’s Better than You’ is an unabashed tribute to Jerry Lee. Another perk of being out on the road with The Mahoney Brothers is that I have access to the great Brian Mahoney to play some more sax on my tunes… Here’s ‘Baby, She’s Better than You,’ featuring Brian Mahoney on saxophone, and yours truly on piano, drums, vocals, and everything else.”

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Timmy’s June 16 Song of the Week entry is “Falling Out of Love Again,” the polar opposite of “Baby, She’s Better than You”: a lovely ballad with a seriously great vocal arrangement, an entrancing melody, and the usual mastery of instruments a-plenty, all played by the artist. Dig the lyrical electric guitar solos, dipped slightly in the Brian May pool. Another top 10 Song of the Week, without question.

Timmy says: “Here’s one that was originally to be included on Songs from and Inspired by Noisewater. I always liked the song, but the album felt like it didn’t need another slower track, so I opted to keep it off the record. I’ve had the lyrics, drums, piano, bass, and acoustic guitars done on it since 2010, but just cut the vocals, lead guitar, percussion, and all the keyboard parts (organ, mellotron, strings, etc.) in the last 24 hours. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!”

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Released this week, the live version of “This Time Around” was recorded at the Bitter End in New York City last October 9. The studio version originally appeared on Timmy’s 2013 EP, East Coast Girls. Typically tuneful, this commanding performance makes us want to see Timmy and his Celebrities perform live. In our living room, perhaps? One can only hope…

Timmy says: “This past weekend I celebrated Brian Wilson’s birthday by catching a showing of his biopic, Love and Mercy, before heading over to the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles to see him perform live. The show was amazing, and I was fortunate enough to get to hang a bit with some members of his band afterwards, including original Beach Boys member, Mr. Al Jardine. They closed the show with a beautiful version of the song ‘Love and Mercy,’ which may not be clearly evident on first listen, but was actually a big inspiration for this song originally off of my 2013 release, the East Coast Girls EP. This live version is another recording from Timmy Sean and the Celebrities’ debut performance on the east coast last fall at the legendary Bitter End in NYC (the same show the earlier Song of the Week ‘On and On’ was pulled from) .

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But wait–there’s more! For those of you wondering what Timmy’s plans are for the rest of this year’s Songs of the Week, here’s the scoop, straight from the artist:

“We’ve…officially hit the halfway point! Thank you so much to everyone who has been following this little project, and especially those of you who have spent your hard-earned money to pay for a subscription. I sincerely want to thank each and every one of you, and hope that you’re enjoying hearing these songs as much as I am enjoying working on them each week. As a little recap, this is where the tally stands so far in each ‘category’ of songs…

– 13 brand new originals
– 4 brand new solo versions of songs I originally wrote for LUZER
– 4 covers
– 3 live recordings of Timmy Sean and the Celebrities
– 2 acoustic versions of previously released originals

“For the second half of the year, there will be AT LEAST as many brand new originals (most likely more), and I’ve been mapping out some ‘theme months’ that I’ll tell you about more once I’ve locked down all the plans. Anyway, thanks again for following this little project!”

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Add Timmy Sean’s “Baby, She’s Better than You” to your collection by clicking here!. Add Timmy’s “Falling Out of Love Again” by clicking here. And, last but not least, add Timmy’s live version of “This Time Around” by clicking here. To get all of Timmy’s music, click here. And check back next week for another new Song of the Week!

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