the Hold Steady

Okay, I have a confession to make. It will be a surprise to some, others not so much.

I have a severe band crush on the Hold Steady. They are all I ever wanted in a rock ‘n’ roll band — crashing guitars, soaring melodies, smart lyrics and memorable characters. Like Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run, Modest Mouse’s Lonesome Crowded West and Cheap Trick’s first three albums wrapped up into one powerhouse. Yeah, that freaking good.

My crush is so severe — their four albums have been the only inhabitants on my shuffle for months now, great for running — I have picked through each of their albums and found every musician and song reference I could recognize — from Lionel Richie to Joe Strummer to Beverly Sills (an opera singer) — and made mixtapes for each album. I had some help from the Hold Steady wiki (link).

Here’s the one from Almost Killed Me:

1. the Hold Steady – The Swish
2. Verdi’s La traviata – Libiamo, libiamo (Brindisi) (Beverly Sills)
3. Warrior – Scandal (Patti Smythe)
4. The Band – Up On Cripple Creek (Rick Danko)
5. Robbie Robertson – Somewhere Down The Crazy River (Robbie Robertson)
6. Journey – Lights (Steve Perry)
7. Nina Simone – To Love Somebody (Nina Simone)
8. Andre Cymone – Livin’ in the New Wave (Andre Cymone, resisted putting something from Survivin’ the 80’s , from the Hold Steady’s lyric in ‘Positive Jam’)
9. Rush – Limelight (“moving pictures”)
10. the Hold Steady – Barfruit Blues
11. Brue Springsteen – Born to Run (“Born to Run”)
12. Johnny Thunders – Born To Lose (“Born to Lose”)
13. the Hold Steady – Most People are DJs
14. Thin Lizzy – Waiting For An Alibi (Phil Lynott)
15. the Hold Steady – Certain Songs
16. A Certain Ratio – Tumba Rhumba (“a certain perfect ratio”)
17. Meatloaf- Heaven Can Wait (Meatloaf)
18. Billy Joel – Summer, Highland Falls (“Billy Joel”)
19. Billy Joel – Only The Good Die Young (“Only The Good Die Young”)
20. Meatloaf – Paradise By The Dashboard Light (“Paradise By The Dashboard Light,” Ellen Foley — one of the singers on this song)
21. Dillinger Four – Fuzzy Pink Hand-Cuffs (“D4 is for the lovers”)
22. the Hold Steady – Knuckles
23. Right Said Fred – Don’t Talk, Just Kiss (Right Said Fred)
24. Queen – It’s Late (Freddie Mercury)
25. the Sex Pistols – Holidays In The Sun (Johnny Rotten)
26. Freddy Fresh – Parcheesy (Freddy Fresh)
27. the Hold Steady – Sketchy Metal
28. Alice Cooper – Hello, Hooray (Alice Cooper)

Here’s the one from Separation Sunday:

1. the Hold Steady – Hornets! Hornets!
2. Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill (“running up that hill”)
3. the Hold Steady – Cattle and the Creeping Things
4. the Mamas and the Papas – Go Where You Wanna Go (Michelle Phillips)
5. the Hold Steady – Charlemagne In Sweatpants
6. Jane’s Addiction – Been Caught Stealing (“Been Caught Stealing”)
7. Lionel Richie – Dancing on the Ceiling (“Dancing on the Ceiling”)
8. the Hold Steady – Stevie Nix
9. Stevie Nix – Edge of Seventeen (“long black shawl,” “white swan”, “to be seventeen forever”)
10. Ella Fitzgerald – Don’t Fence Me in (“every cowboy that got fenced in”)
11. Rod Stewart – Passion (“Rod Stewart,” “Passion,”)
12. Rod Stewart – Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? (“you think you’re sexy”)
13. the Hold Steady – Multitude Of Casualties
14. Eva Cassidy – Wade in the Water (“wade in the water”)
15. Coven – One Tin Soldier (“one tin soldier”)
16. the Hold Steady – Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night
17. Dillinger Four – Supermodels Don’t Drink Colt 45 (“Nelson Algren”)
18. ZZ Top – Legs (“She’s got Legs”)
19. the Temptations – Ain’t Too Proud To Beg (“Ain’t Too Proud To Beg”)
20. the Dixie Dregs – Chips Ahoy (“something by the Dixie Dregs” … yes, also the title of a Hold Steady song off of Boys and Girls in America )
21. The Pogues – Fairytale of New York (“Fairytale of New York,” “when the band stopped playing we howled out for more”)
22. Bob Dylan – Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again (“cigarettes where there were supposed to be eyes”)

Okay, this next one’s a bit lean. Just the way the album worked, I guess. Though I have the Australian version of the album with bonus tracks (with some awesome references — Mountain Goats, Krokus and the Time), I opted to stay with the standard track list — as I don’t have other issues of all their albums. So, here’s the one from Boys and Girls in America:

1. the Hold Steady – Stuck Between Stations
2. the Jim Carroll Band – People Who Died (“John Berryman could fly, but he didn’t so he died”)
3. the Hold Steady – Hot Soft Light
4. Judas Priest – Screaming for Vengeance (“Screaming for Vengeance”)
5. Black Sabbath – Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath (“Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath”)
6. the Hold Steady – Chillout Tent
7. Izzy Stradlin – Shuffle it All (Izzy Stradlin)

The same thing goes for this album with the extra tracks as Boys and Girls in America. I know there are some good references (the Rolling Stones, the Ramones, Al Green, Barry White, etc.), but if I can’t do all of ‘em, I’ll do none. So, here are the referenced tracks from Stay Positive:

1. the Hold Steady – Constructive Summer
2. Iggy Pop – Lust For Life (“drums on ‘Lust for life’”)
3. Dillinger Four – Doublewhiskeycokenoice (“double whiskey, no ice”)
4. Otis Redding – Cigarettes and Coffee (this one’s not a Hold Steady song, it’s a second degree song, but the D4 track references it in their lyric, “God save Otis Redding because I know he’s never gone”)
5. Joe Strummer – Coma Girl (“raise a toast to St. Joe Strummer … I think he might’ve been our only decent teacher”)
6. the Hold Steady – Both Crosses
7. Billy Joel – Only The Good Die Young (a repeat reference but I think it bears mention, “you Catholic girls, you start much too late”)
8. the Hold Steady – Stay Positive
9. Youth Of Today – Stabbed In The Back (“Youth Of Today”)
10. 7 Seconds – Walk Together, Rock Together (“7 Seconds”)
11. the Hold Steady – Joke About Jamaica
12. Led Zeppelin – D’Yer Mak’er (“D’Yer Mak’er”)
13. Led Zeppelin – Dancing Days (“Dancing Days”)
14. Led Zeppelin – Houses of the Holy (“Houses of the Holy”)
15. Nick Gilder – Hot Child in the City (“Hot Child in the City”)
16. Neil Young – Oh, Lonesome Me (“flirting with the boys with all her charms”)
17. Neil Young – Tired Eyes (“Tired Eyes”)
18. Led Zeppelin – Dazed and Confused (“Dazed and Confused”)
19. Led Zeppelin – Trampled Under Foot (“Trampled Under Foot”)
20. Johnny Cash – Cocaine Blues (live at Folsum) (“C-C-C-C-Cocaine Blues”)

I shot the above photo at Emo’s in the spring when they were here last. You can see the complete set here:
http://flickr.com/photos/skipperchong/sets/72157604285822854/.