Wiki Wednesday

Time to learn something!

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. Click on "Random article" in the left-hand sidebar box.
3. Post it!

I got yet another obscure musical entry:

"Cigarettes Will Kill You" is a single by Australian artist Ben Lee. It is from the album Breathing Tornados. It was voted number 2 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 1998.

During the April 24, 2006 concert at Irving Plaza in New York, Ben described how he came up with the title for the track. He recalled that he had been listening to The Verve who have a song called "The Drugs Don't Work". He was so impressed with the title of the song, that he decided to name his song with a similarly catchy title.

The song was featured in the 2002 Australian comedy "Crackerjack".

The following tracks appear on the Australian release of the single:

1. "Cigarettes Will Kill You"
2. "Girls Talk" (Elvis Costello)
3. "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" (Bob Dylan)

I've never heard of Ben Lee or that song. Anyone?

Comments

[Florinda]

I think I've heard of him, but can't tell you WHY I think so...so that's not much help, is it? But I am intrigued that he did a cover of "Girls Talk" - I used to love that song, and haven't heard it for ages.

[Karen]

Same here -- I can't imagine anyone covering that one! I still love that song when it comes up on my iPod.

[TwoBusy]

I actually own his 1995 CD "Grandpaw Would," which features the charming single "Pop Queen" that got some alternative radio play back in the day.

[Karan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunnyvale%2C_Texas

Sunnyvale, Texas

The town now called Sunnyvale was inhabited by various Native American tribes in the years before the European conquest of the Americas. It became under the rule of Spain in the 1700s, very close to the boundary of Spanish and French territory (although this boundary was carried upward a bit in 1819; see Adams-Onís Treaty.) During this time, the area was relatively underdeveloped. However, some settlers migrated to Texas and would eventually settle in Sunnyvale. In 1821, the town became a possession of Mexico when Mexico received its independence from Spain. After the Texas Revolution, the area once again changed hands, under the Republic of Texas. This is when the town started to develop. During this time, settlers migrated to present-day Sunnyvale, naming the hamlet they founded Long Creek.[1]. In 1845 Texas became a United States state. More settlers migrated to the area. In the 1860s, the town was briefly part of the Confederate States of America. As more people arrived, eventually three new towns sprang up in the area: New Hope, Tripp, and Hatterville. New Hope was the most prosperous of these. It had many shops and stores, a fair called Gala Days, and a newspaper, the New Hope News. It was neighboring Mesquite's biggest rival. This all ended in 1921, when a storm blew the town away [2]. Many buildings were damaged and the prosperous days were over. From this year on to the 1950s, the four towns had new developments, remaining stagnant. In the year 1953, the hamlets of Hatterville, New Hope, Long Creek, and Tripp merged under the name Sunnyvale. The name was chosen in a contest from a local school. Today, there are many reminders of Sunnyvale's rich history, like the old New Hope School; the Tripp First Baptist Church, built in 1882; and many antique houses. The Long Creek Cemetery in southern Sunnyvale is over 150 years old, and the first recorded burial there is that of Leona Crownover Caldwell, dated October 2, 1855. There are also veterans from most major American wars, including the War of 1812, the Civil War (both Union and Confederate veterans), the World Wars, and others. Some of the oldest burials in the cemetery include James Truss and Priscilla Dulaney Truss, both born in 1799 [3]. Today, this cemetery is a rich reminder of Sunnyvale history

[Mark]

Ben's biggest hit so far has been "Catch My Disease," which showed up on a Gray's Anatomy soundtrack (the missus bought it, not me - honest!). His original stuff is a little too cute for me, but he likes to do covers and does them pretty well. He covered the latest release by the punk band "Against Me!" and put it up on his website for free download. It sounds better than the original and better than Ben's own new release.

And that's way more information than you ever wanted about Ben Lee.

[Peter Blackstock]

"Cigarettes Will Kill You" is one of Ben Lee's best songs; pretty sure I put it on my "best of 1998" end-of-year collection (a cassette back in those days). As I recall, the name doesn't really have anything to do with the subject of the song; was just an intriguing title he decided to use (as the blurb you found explains). Lee's stuff in general has been sorta hit-and-miss with me, but the good songs tend to be really, really good. and "Cigarettes" was among those. (Probably the only song of his I'd rate higher would be "Begin" from his 2005 album Awake Is The New Sleep.)

BTW, discovered your blog via a comment you left about "Killing The Blues" on the No Depression site; I only just now discovered the comment you'd left buried amidst a mountain of spam-comments. I've published it now so it's on the blog-page there. Thanks for stopping by and for taking time to comment.