Marvin Gaye//How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)

All you need is love Sweetness Week.

As everyone knows, there is nothing sweeter than love, except maybe Motown. That's why I decided to end the week with this jam by the legendary Marvin Gaye.

This song was a classic 60s Holland–Dozier–Holland composition. Marvin Gaye recorded this version in 1964 in Hitsville USA Studio A. with background vox by The Andantes and instrumentation by The Funk Brothers. James Taylor made a shitty easy listening version a decade later. Oh my god, it sucks.

I don't know if I told you, but my lady's going away to grad school in a few weeks and I'm feeling kinda bummed about it. I'd like to send this one out to her, because I want to stop and thank you, baby.



How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You).mp3

I needed the shelter of someone's arms,
And there you were.
I needed someone to understand my ups and downs,
And there you were.
With sweet love and devotion,
deeply touching my emotion.
I want to stop and thank you, baby.
I just want to stop and thank you, baby.

How sweet it is to be loved by you

I close my eyes at night,
Wondering where would I be without you in my life.
Everything I did was just a bore.
Everywhere I went it seems I'd been there before.
But you brightened up for me all of my days
With a love so sweet in so many ways.
I want to stop and thank you, baby.
I want to stop and thank you, baby.

How sweet it is to be loved by you

Love and Chocolate: Some researchers believe chocolate cravings have something to do with serotonin, a brain chemical that makes us feel happy and relaxed. Recent studies in neuroscience have indicated that as people fall in love, the brain consistently releases a certain set of chemicals, including serotonin, which stimulates the brain's pleasure center. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Mike Doughty//Down On The River By The Sugar Plant

OSS: Where the Sweetness is Made.

A friend of mine put this song on a mix he sent me when I was living in London at a very sad and lonely time in my life. It really struck a chord then and when I hear it now in a bar or out somewhere, I still get a strong jolt of sense memory. It's about someone who feels disjointed and dejected, cut off from society and getting weirder by the second, which, coincidentally, was how I felt during most of my time in the UK.

You might remember Mike Doughty from the 90s band Soul Coughing, who had a few hits with a song about walking around in circles and something called "Super Bon Bon." Soul Coughing kind of ended in disaster, with Doughty addicted to heroin and the band dropped from their label. Thankfully for us, he was able to overcome his drug problems and have a successful solo career. I find that I enjoy some of his solo material more than his stuff with SC, which is a rare thing.

Judging by the references to "boatloads of bootleg Sean John" on Orchard St., my guess is that the "sugar plant" Doughty is referencing is the Domino on Kent St. in Williamsburg, BK. Want to see a picture?



Down On The River By The Sugar Plant.mp3

I pledge allegiance to my displacement.
My flag of doubt is unfurled.
And I’ll dream you up on a vast, dark coast,
Believe I see you walking toward me, arms outstretched like a Ghost
And I want to kiss you but I can’t,
Down on the river by the sugar plant.

The Sugar Plant: Domino Sugar was started in 1799 by William Frederick Havemeyer (the called Havemayer, Townsend & Co Refinery). By 1900, the Havemeyers had purchased five addition plants and renamed their East Coast sugar empire "Domino." William F. Havemeyer was also mayor of NYC through a lot of the 1800s, which is why there is a street named after him (right next to the street named after the guy responsible for the Brooklyn Bridge).

Starlight Mints//Sir Prize

Get that minty freshness with Sweets Week.

A quintessential sweet, Starlight Mints are those classic red and white peppermints that grandma always has in the candy dish. Don't worry, we avoid them too. Luckily, there are some other Starlight Mints we can all enjoy.

These Mints are a psych pop band from Norman, OK and they pen songs that have a knack for sticking in my head. This one's no exception.

I especially like how this jam incorporates strings and juxtaposes them with lyrics that make you feel like you're going through a bad drug trip. Somehow it all comes out charming? Surprise, sir prize.



Sir Prize.mp3

It's a masquerade,
The mouse-scapade,
And a ruby in your twist.

My array, shaking hands with a cat in a mirror.
My array, waking up with the blast of a cold.
My array, my array, l count your breath.

Mint Condition: Mint candy comes in a plethora of forms and flavors. In addition to the basics (Peppermint, Spearmint), there are hard mints (like Altoids and Tic Tacs), soft mints (like Andes and York Peppermint Patties) and scotch mints (like Mentos). Whoa.

Wild Sweet Orange//Wrestle with God

Allow your mouth to water, because it’s Sweets Week.

I don’t know about you guys, but my family has a series of weird phrases that nobody else in the entire world seems to use anymore. I think a lot of these originated with my paternal grandfather. For example, does anyone you know say, “hold onto your girdles, girls,” when driving around particularly harsh curved highway on-ramps? Nope? Didn’t think so.

One of these phrases is, “sweet as sugar, sweet as sugar.” This is one you can say when eating a piece of fruit that is, well, as sweet as sugar.

Wild Sweet Orange, a band from Alabama, is also as sweet as sugar…just as you can imagine actual wild sweet oranges would be.

This song hit the blogs a few years back and I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, looks like the band is currently on hiatus.



Wrestle with God.mp3

Is that the wind blowing through the tops of trees?
Are the cars humming through the streets?
It’s the moment passing right through me,
‘Cause the past is the only thing I see.

Wild Sweet Nothings :I’m kind of a freak, but I don’t like Watermelons. I get a lot of shit for this every single summer, so I make an effort to keep trying the much-beloved fruit. It’s not the flavor, it’s the texture. Give me some strawberries, give me some raspberries, give me a peach, give me a mango!

The Two Man Gentlemen Band//Chocolate Milk

Liquid Cavities: Monday Mail
What is Monday Mail?

Something about the end of summer really brings out my extreme sugar cravings. Thus, I am happy to announce Sweets Week here at OSS. I’ll be focusing on songs about or by bands that take their names from delicious things. First up: everyone’s favorite tasty beverage, chocolate milk.

Serious Business Records says:

The Two Man Gentlemen Band's hot, raucous, old-time Vaudevillian sound has made them an underground sensation. They traverse the country incessantly, playing hundreds of shows per year including recent dates with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson.
Their style - musically & visually - incorporates elements of hot jazz, rhythm & blues, tin-pan alley, and western swing and their original songs consistently "prove that making old-fashioned music needn't be polite or predictable" (Time Out New York). They deftly balance lighthearted and often hysterical romps about reefer, wine, boy/girl parties, and chocolate milk with tender ballads of loneliness and fidelity.

This song espouses the simple beauty and ample benefits of chocolate milk. Cocoa beans and heavy cream are a basic but heavenly combo. It’s delicious. It’s nutritious (sorta). It’s fun. You can blow bubbles in it. You can do blow and stay up all night drinking it. All bases are covered in this old-timey ode to the syrupy stuff.

I mean, really, think about it. Milk. It’s so boring. Maybe it’s just because I’m an east coaster, but there’s no way I could ever just drink milk on its own. That said, add a little chocolate and I’m there. Rufus Wainwright is obviously also there. Two Man Gentlemen Band is also there. We’re having a chocolate-milk-appreciation party—me, Rufus, and the gentlemen. OK, who's bringing the straws?



Chocolate Milk.mp3

And who’ll fetch my amphetamines?
I will, I will, I will!
I might want to stay up all night, drinking chocolate milk.


Sweet Intention: My favorite candy store, hands down, is Economy Candy in the Lower East Side. Goetz Caramels? Check. Candy Cigarettes? Check. Nerds? Check. Giant Collectible Pez Dispensers? Uh, check.