ALONE & FORSAKEN (HANK WILLIAMS).
One of my earliest vocal recordings, this Hank Williams cover is from 1985. CLICK HERE
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CARNIVAL IN JUNE
This is an early favorite of mine. I had recently purchased a delay/chorus box to enhance my
keyboards, and quickly found that I could use it for interesting recording techniques. This song is about
a kid who gets killed at a carnival. Y'all sing along! From 1988. CLICK HERE
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CELLULAR PHONE, GODDAMN
This was recorded at the same time as 'Carnival in June'. It was just a joke-song about the proliferation
of cell phones in the eighties when they were a new phenomenon. The song title was a play on Nina
Simone's 'Mississippi, Goddamn'. From 1988. CLICK HERE
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WALK ON BY (BACHARACH/DAVID)
I always liked Aretha Franklin's version of this Dionne Warwick hit, so that's probably what lead me to
cover it. I like the raw rock n roll sound on this. From 1991. CLICK HERE
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JEFFREY DAHMER
Another oddball track, done very tongue-in-cheek, about Jeffrey Dahmer's early years. What possessed
me to write this is anyone's guess. One of my most bizarre tracks recorded at the height of
Dahmermania. From 1991. CLICK HERE
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LOVE ME (LEIBER/STOLLER)
An early Elvis tune written by the great songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. This is me
trying to do something "soulful" with my confounded voice. From 1991. CLICK HERE
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RADIANT GIRL
Somewhere in here is a really good song. I just gave up too quickly. The "mm-mm-mm" part has a lot
of potential, and the melody is catchy. I honestly have no idea what I'm talking about in this song, which
may be why I gave up on it. From 1997. CLICK HERE
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ALL WITHIN MY HEART
Writing things down when you're young affords you the opportunity to see how much you've changed. I
don't even recognize the writer of this one, but he seems like a nice fellow. Written in high school study
hall. For no particular reason, I love the line "Cupid shot me but he just missed you". Recorded in
1997. CLICK HERE
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DOWN ON THE ISLAND
In 1991 I was working on Petty's Island in Pennsauken, New Jersey. Petty's Island is a little tit of an
island in the Delaware River situated between New Jersey and Philadelphia. There actually was a guy
that was killed when I was there, which gave me the idea for this. The chorus is what makes this song
work for me. From 1991. CLICK HERE
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THE BEAUTY OF LIFE
I wrote this song after my nephew Nicholas was born. It's a fictional father & son song, since I never
had a child of my own. I never played this for anyone. From 1997. CLICK HERE
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SHOCKS
I rarely write a piano/vocal tune, and I have no memory of writing this, but I like the haunting,
eerieness of it. A very young, very troubled lad. From 1987. CLICK HERE
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RELIEF BY HEAVEN
I love how this song explodes after the spoken intro. It's about a guy I worked with on Petty's Island
who was a zany madcap until one day when he became born again (or was he labotimized?) From 1991.
CLICK HERE
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DON'T YOU MAKE ME A STAR
I like this one mainly because of the keyboards. This was written about the media frenzy when Princess
Diana was killed. From 1997. CLICK HERE
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YOU MADE ME LOSE ALL I HAD
There's nothing like a catchy chorus to build a song around. Just a fun little acoustic rocker. From 1997.
CLICK HERE
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MONKEY ON A TV SHOW
A half-baked idea about a monkey on a kiddie show. Did you ever notice how on old kiddie shows there
was always a demented carnival atmosphere just beneath the surface with blood-thirsty clowns and
unsavory adults? That's what I was thinking about here. From 1997. CLICK HERE
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I KEEP WORKIN'
Working man blues with a funky, rock-slappy guitar.
"Don't let nobody sell me short, I got 2 pairs of pants and a song in my heart".
Take that, Cole Porter! From 1991. CLICK HERE
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YOU DON'T ANSWER ANY MORE
I usually don't write songs around guitar riffs. This is a rare exception. From 1991. CLICK HERE
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THE LAST BOAT
A gospel sea chanty! Don't hear too many of these. I wrote this after going to a childhood friend's
mother's funeral. From 1991. CLICK HERE
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IT IS NOT RIGHT (WITH MIKE)
A very early duet with my brother Michael. I think I wrote this, but I could be wrong. The lyrics are
completely foreign to me, but as sloppy as this is, I love the feeling on it! From 1986. CLICK HERE
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UP ON THE ROOF
(An original tune, not the Drifter's classic). It's a fine line you walk when writing a "feel good" song
about suicide. This seems to walk it just right. From 1986. CLICK HERE
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HEAVEN CAN YOU SPARE ME AN ANGEL
A sing-along in the tradition of Burl Ives and Charles Manson. From 1991. CLICK HERE
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TAKING YOU OUT
This is a song about someone being pushed around - but in a good way. Like a baby in a carriage, a
cripple in a wheelchair, or a stuffed animal on roller skates. In case you can't tell, this was completely
ad-libbed. From 1997. CLICK HERE
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FALLIN' ALL OVER AGAIN
A sentimental song about the end of a summer romance... Some songs just write themselves. From
1991. CLICK HERE
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TILL WE MEET AGAIN
As close to a standard as I've ever written. I wrote this after returning from a camping trip with friends.
From 1992. CLICK HERE
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MARIA
I've tried to record this a few times, but I've never improved on this first take. A religious tune for
agnostics. From 1992. CLICK HERE
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TAG ALONG JACK
A strange descending chord progression that moves along quite nicely. All it needs are hand claps and
children screaming. I never realized how many songs I've written about kids getting killed. From 1991.
CLICK HERE
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DIG HER UP
In the same twisted vein as 'Carnival in June' and 'Jeffrey Dahmer'. About young love and
necrophilia. There's some nice keyboards happening here. From 1990. CLICK HERE
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DARK CLOUD HANGIN' OVER ME (WITH MIKE)
I never got a good quality recording of this, but it's one of my better tunes. Cindy Walker (writer of
'You Don't Know Me' and 'Dream Baby') once said that if you have a good title that's half the battle -
this was a good title to work with. My brother Michael also does some exceptional backing vocals on
this. From 1993. CLICK HERE
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FAR AWAY
The best thing about this song is the excessive echo I put on it. That usually doesn't work, but it did
something very interesting for this track. From 1990. CLICK HERE
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WICKED WORLD
A simple little song that probably took less then 10 minutes to write yet all these years later I still find
myself playing it. A three-chord wonder with a strong verbal hook. I still believe this song will be a hit
someday for somebody. From 1987. CLICK HERE
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TURN THE WATER ON
An odd little stream of consciousness number that rolled out of my head. One of my best early lyrics.
From 1987. CLICK HERE
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PRAISE
Give me a C ! A Bouncy C ! One of my angry-at-god songs. If you agree with the sentiments in this
song, I can guarantee you're going straight to hell. But don’t worry. That's where the best music is.
From 1991. CLICK HERE
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THE DRIVING WHEEL (WITH MIKE)
I think this song cooks! You can almost picture the car flying down the road. There’s a direct Kinks
influence on this. From 1990. CLICK HERE
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SWEET ANNE
I remember when I recorded this on a 4-track I really wanted a heavy driving bass sound, but all I had
was my acoustic guitar. The heavy distortion was intentional. I also like the snottiness of some of the
words. This could be a great rock n’ roll number in the right hands. From 1991. CLICK HERE
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TO MAKE YOUR WAY
In the early 80’s I loved a lot of the ska/pop music coming out of the UK like Madness, The Specials,
The Beat, Bad Manners, etc. There is a true Madness influence on this one. A bit more jazzy than my
usual fare. From 1989. CLICK HERE
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I'M GONNA MAKE YOU MINE
Buddy Holly, Buddy Holly, Buddy Holly. Try as I might his influence comes through time and time
again. I wrote this when I was 21 with an unabashed Holly influence. I never got over the purity and
directness of what he left this world. Buddy Holly is like cold water in a hundred degree heat.
From 1995. CLICK HERE
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NO INTEREST
Very early and very out of tune. I remember writing this after learning how to play an F# chord.
Something I picked up from a Percy Sledge song. The chorus has a nicely haunting melody and a fairly
clever lyric. It also has a strangely bi-sexual verse that creates more questions than it answers (I was
probably trying to be shocking, as if anyone cared what the hell I wrote). From 1986. CLICK HERE
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DON'T YOU REMEMBER
A standard you-don't-love-me song with a nice country feel. The thing I like best about this is the
percussion. I had gone to the shore to record a batch of songs (such as 'Maria') but I didn't have my
effects box to create a beat. I took a tin pot from the cupboard and made it work for me. From 1992.
CLICK HERE
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PROSPERITY ROW
1991 was a particularly prolific year. Listening to this song all I can think of is that summer, and hanging
out with a guy I worked with named Doug Scott. Every night after work we’d go to Lenas Bar in
Cherry Hill, NJ, or The Jockey Club in the now-demolished Cherry Hill Inn, and we'd get hammered. I
think this song is about trying to find happiness in a world full of conniving scumbags (or some deep
philosophical concept like that). From 1991. CLICK HERE
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YOU MAKE A MAN LONELY
If there is one person I most emulate as a singer it's John Lennon. Hands-down. Not because I think
he’s the greatest singer (although he did have one of the best rock 'n roll voices), but I always felt a
kinship to how he used his voice to put across a lyric. Like the actor James Cagney, Lennon could
convey great vulnerability and never lose an ounce of his coolness. He could convey enormous certainty
without ever sounding like a jerk. He could be sarcastic & cheeky while simultaneously sounding very
serious with a message of great importance (Polythene Pam is a great example of that). This is a clearly
Lennon-inspired tune circa 1965. From 1992. CLICK HERE
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OYSTER BAY
It's interesting how mental pain can manifest itself. I wrote this in 1996 during one of the worst periods
of my life. I was very much in love with a girl who made it clear she had no interest in me, I was in a
job where I was in way over my head, and only a few months earlier I imagined much, much greater
things were ahead. Just a few months after writing and recording this I physically imploded due to stress
and was hospitalized for over a week. (To paraphrase Grandpa Simpson, "They can say it was because
of a busted left ventricle, but I know it was because of a broken heart"). To this day I have never been
to Oyster Bay, Long Island, and have no idea why I used that location for this song. I guess my
imagination was still reeling from the dreams that had so quickly been smashed into a million pieces.
The rapid-fire delivery of the lyrics speaks volumes, to me, for how tormented I was...
From 1996. CLICK HERE
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IT'S OVER
Sometimes a simple recording captures a lot. I always liked this recording from 1986. I've written many
goodbye songs. This was one of the first. Note: Listen at the very end for Charlie the cat.
CLICK HERE
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