Was wondering if we've had a post listing essential "twee" songs/albums, but all my search came up with is "tweets," "tweens" and "Tweedy" so forgive me if we've discussed this before, but: twee. Pro or con? Who/what are the greats? Off the top of my head, I'd say, Jonathan Richman, The Shaggs, Beat Happening (was everything on K Records twee)?, Altered Images, and...

Wednesday Week had a great song called "I Hate Lying To Mom" that was as twee as it's title. The all-toy-instrument band Pianosaurus were quite wonderful. I even saw 'em live. The drummer smashed his Fraggle Rock drum kit, a la Keith Moon.

Scratching my head to come up with more, I looked up "twee," and Mr. Google pointed me to this article:

[www.theatlantic.com]

Utterly ridiculous. I couldn't finish the article, so perhaps one of you can and tell me if I'm missing anything. Every urban trendy millennial is apparently now "twee." But hey, maybe the, er, "twees" can give the word "hipster" back to the cool, be-bopping beatniks and rock 'n roll hoodlums that originally earned that sobriquet. I mean, like, crazy.

In early 2011, I put together a 3 hour program on twee--definitely some questionable picks got included. Can't believe that I left Richman out. Think I was coming at twee from more of a C-86 angle than I would now.

1- Jackanory Stories - Television Personalities
2- Lost Outside the Tunnel - Aztec Camera
3- Sorry For Laughing - Josef K
4- Falling & Laughing - Orange Juice
5- I Don't Want To Be Friends With You - Shop Assistants
6- Anorak City - Another Sunny Day
7- Baby Honey - The Pastels
8- Like Frankie Lymon - The Weather Prophets
9- If I Said - The Darling Buds
10- E102 - BMX Bandits
11- William Shatner - The Bodines
12- Frans Hals - McCarthy
13- The Sun A Small Star - The Servants
14- I Had An Excellent Dream - The Dentists
15- Get Out Of My Dream - The Clouds
16- A Morning Odyssey - The Sea Urchins
17- Love's Going Out of Fashion - Biff Bang Pow!
18- Cold Heart - Jasmine Minks
19- What Went Wrong This Time - The Siddeleys
20- Quicksilver - The Field Mice
21- Ashlands Road - Strawberry Road
22- Honey - Marine Girls
23- Escalator Over the Hill - Talulah Gosh
24- C Is The Heavenly Option - Heavenly
25- Supercrush - Tiger Trap
26- Perfect Afternoon - The Softies
27- Magic 8 Ball - Cub
28- Leave All Your Old Loves - The She-Brews
29- Downbeat For Danger - Bunnygrunt
30- By Tomorrow - Black Tambourine
31- Fortune Cookie Prize - Beat Happening
32- Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend's Too Stupid To Know About - Tullycraft
33- Friday I'm In Love - Glo-Worm
34- Ahprahran - Sugargliders
35- 100,000 Fireflies - Magnetic Fields
36- Blue Sunday - The Ropers
37- Yeah Yeah You - Wolfie
38- Untidy Towns - Lucksmiths
39- Right Back Where I Started - Boyracer
40- Something Strange Happens - Alan Clapp & His Orchestra
41- Popkiss - Blueboy
42- Let's Go Away - Rocketship
43- Time Trials - Honeybunch
44- My Wandering Days Are Over - Belle & Sebastian
45- The Best Part Of Being With You - Groove Farm

Wow, is that mix available for listening somewhere? Not familiar with most of those. I'm kinda playing catch-up as I was blasting my brains out to SST-type noisy decadence (and early hip-hop) at the time.

Quote

Think I was coming at twee from more of a C-86 angle

Understandable. I'm sure I'd never heard the word "twee" until Brit crits starting using it around that time.



Post Edited (08-23-16 14:03)

Damn good playlist, UhWellUh. I'll add the following, some of which might be a stretch or an outlier in the respective band's catalog that would definitely be considered twee, even if said band generally isn't:

"The Sweetest Thing" - Camera Obscura
"Hugging My Grudge" - The Boy Least Likely To
"I Could Be Happy" - Altered Images
"American Boys" - The Rhythm Sisters
"Cartoon Kiddies" - Love Tractor
"Brian Rix" - The Brilliant Corners
"Happy All the Time" - The Flatmates
"Eanie Meanie" - Jim Noir
"I'm Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" - The Black Kids
"We Walk" - REM
"In the Rain" - June Brides
"Domestic Animal" - The Jazz Butcher
"Expresso" - The Monochrome Set
"Lunchtime for the Wild Youth" - The Chesterfields
"The King of Rock & Roll" - Prefab Sprout
"Young At Heart" - The Bluebells
"The Camera Loves Me" - The Would-Be-Goods
"Another Poet" - Hey Paulette
"Mario's Cafe" - Saint Etienne
"Summer's Gone" - Aberfeldy
"The Weakest Shade of Blue" - The Pernice Brothers
"Easy Does" - Let's Active
"My Face" - Henry Badowski

I'm tempted to add "I'll Come Running" by Brian Eno, but I can't quite make the case for it. Close, though.



Post Edited (08-23-16 20:15)

I have a low bitrate recording of the program--will send you an email Mr Fab.

This article came in handy for me trying to get some context-- [pitchfork.com]

Reading the Atlantic link, wonder if "twee" is now getting generalized & misapplied kinda like what happened to "emo" a few years ago.

Breno--from the songs I recognize in your batch, definitely plan to search out the rest.

Lots of twee classics missing from the earlier list - well done, sir!



Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

I saw your subject line, and I must confess, my first thought was this:

[en.wikipedia.org])

Don't know nuthin' 'bout twee.



Post Edited (08-24-16 10:13)

Ha! The Clouds. I remember supporting them when they were the darlings of the Sydney pub circuit. That was a while ago.

+1 for "Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend's Too Stupid To Know About - Tullycraft". My personal favorite "twee" song of all time. That song is useful because it references numerous other classic twee bands.

I'll just leave this here:

[www.billboard.com]

Inevitable shoo-in for any future twee lists. I won't be surprised if she wins AGT this year.