• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

“Alexa, change the president.”

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

The lights are all blinking red.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Mobile Menu

  • 4 Directions VA 2025 Raffle
  • 2025 Activism
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Music / I was dreaming of the past

I was dreaming of the past

by DougJ|  August 31, 20154:36 pm| 148 Comments

This post is in: Music

FacebookTweetEmail

For some reason, my wife and I decided to watch a terrible Diane Keaton/Michael Douglas rom-com that began and ended with the song “Both Sides Now”. As you may know, the popular version of that song prominently features a harpsichord.

What are the best songs with harpsichords in them? I’ll go with “In My Life”, though I also find that early Linda Ronstadt song “Different Drum” pretty catchy.

Have there been any songs with harpsichords in them in the last 30 years or was is just 60s/70s thing?

Update. I forgot about “Cypress Avenue”, that’s the best one. I have a weakness for “Walk Away Renee” too.

Update. Worst song would be “Touch Me Baby” by the Doors.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Fighting Words (Open Thread)
Next Post: GREAT Cat News from England! »

Reader Interactions

148Comments

  1. 1.

    Mike J

    August 31, 2015 at 4:38 pm

    Mike Nesmith wrote Different Drum, so of course it’s catchy.

  2. 2.

    redshirt

    August 31, 2015 at 4:42 pm

    You really started a harpsichord thread? lol

  3. 3.

    Germy Shoemangler

    August 31, 2015 at 4:42 pm

    the Bee Gees first album was full of harpsichord. It was up there with bass, guitar and drums.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntMMbNg3rIY

  4. 4.

    John Revolta

    August 31, 2015 at 4:43 pm

    They’re creepy and they’re kooky
    Mysterious and spooky…………………..

    harpsichords, I mean.

  5. 5.

    Alex

    August 31, 2015 at 4:44 pm

    For Harpsichords, I go with Bach, Vivaldi, and Telemann

  6. 6.

    ranchandsyrup

    August 31, 2015 at 4:45 pm

    Black keys use harpsichord but i’m google flailing at the moment on the song.

  7. 7.

    redshirt

    August 31, 2015 at 4:45 pm

    I’m saving my powder for the theremin thread.

  8. 8.

    Germy Shoemangler

    August 31, 2015 at 4:45 pm

    There is actually no harpsichord on the Beatles’ “In My Life” (Lennon had not decided what instrument to use, but he subsequently asked George Martin to play a piano solo, suggesting “something Baroque-sounding”. Martin wrote a Bach-influenced piece that he found he could not play at the song’s tempo. On 22 October, the solo was recorded with the tape running at half speed, so when played back at normal pace the piano was twice as fast and an octave higher, solving the performance challenge and also giving the solo a unique timbre, reminiscent of a harpsichord.)

  9. 9.

    redshirt

    August 31, 2015 at 4:45 pm

    Didn’t Coldplay have a harpsichord album recently?

  10. 10.

    dedc79

    August 31, 2015 at 4:45 pm

    Yes, Cypress Avenue blows away the competition.

    There are a bunch of Joanna Newsom songs with harpsichord, but she (her voice, particularly) is admittedly an acquired taste.

    ETA: God Only Knows uses one, doesn’t it?

  11. 11.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 31, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    @redshirt: Didn’t Levenson have one a few weeks back?

  12. 12.

    JPL

    August 31, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    This is a strange blog.

  13. 13.

    delk

    August 31, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    Elvis Costello

    “You Little Fool”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfzHtjTlB_8

  14. 14.

    Germy Shoemangler

    August 31, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    @Mike J: Mike Nesmith’s mom invented White Out, so he was set for life from an early age. This freed him to compose wonderful tunes and get grumpy about being a Monkee.

  15. 15.

    EthylEster

    August 31, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    Doors: Love me two times.

  16. 16.

    DougJ

    August 31, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    That’s very interesting.

  17. 17.

    redshirt

    August 31, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    @redshirt: Sorry, proper wingnut is “Keeping my powder dry”.

  18. 18.

    redshirt

    August 31, 2015 at 4:49 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: A harpsichord thread? I hope so at this point. BJ can become the definitive place on the Internet for harpsichord chat.

  19. 19.

    Germy Shoemangler

    August 31, 2015 at 4:50 pm

    @delk:

    Elvis Costello. “You Little Fool”

    When Costello’s “Imperial Bedroom” came out, so many people were comparing it to the great american songbook that someone played the album for Ira Gershwin. After hearing it for a few minutes, he yelled “What the hell is this shit?”

    I still love the songs of Elvis Costello.

  20. 20.

    Brachiator

    August 31, 2015 at 4:52 pm

    @John Revolta:

    They’re creepy and they’re kooky
    Mysterious and spooky…………………..

    Hah! Exactly the song that came to mind.

    I think the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” has some harpsichord.

    The Odd Couple film score.

    And early on, the Jamies, Summertime Summertime (1958)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeNAgBFmJpM

  21. 21.

    Poopyman

    August 31, 2015 at 4:52 pm

    @Alex: Dude! No love for Scarlatti?

  22. 22.

    jharp

    August 31, 2015 at 4:52 pm

    I dig the Bee Gees, Different Drum, and Walk Away Renee.

    Must be the harpsichord.

  23. 23.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 31, 2015 at 4:53 pm

    @redshirt: No, a theremin thread.

  24. 24.

    PST

    August 31, 2015 at 4:53 pm

    Play with Fire

  25. 25.

    Alexandra

    August 31, 2015 at 4:54 pm

    Best song: Golden Brown by The Stranglers

  26. 26.

    Germy Shoemangler

    August 31, 2015 at 4:55 pm

    Here is a list of pop tunes with harpsichord over the past 80 years or so:

    http://www.christopherlewis.net/pop-music.html

  27. 27.

    jacel

    August 31, 2015 at 4:55 pm

    Lots of late 1960s recordings by The Kinks used harpsichord in the texture.

    Artie Shaw included a harpsichord in his small group Gramercy Five recordings in the 1940s.

  28. 28.

    Zinsky

    August 31, 2015 at 4:56 pm

    If I’m not mistaken, “Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds” by the Beatles starts with a harpsichord.

  29. 29.

    redshirt

    August 31, 2015 at 4:57 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Damn! There already was a theremin thread?!

  30. 30.

    cat

    August 31, 2015 at 4:57 pm

    Am I really the first to mention Tori Amos?
    Blood Roses

  31. 31.

    ul

    August 31, 2015 at 4:57 pm

    Joy by Apollo 100

    sure, it’s an adaption of a Bach piece, but it was also a pop hit.

    40 Year Old Virgin anybody?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIbrO568UcE

  32. 32.

    Brachiator

    August 31, 2015 at 4:58 pm

    Paul Mauriat – “Love is blue”

    Number 1 for 5 weeks in 1968

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9FYD1dlw4E

  33. 33.

    pete

    August 31, 2015 at 4:59 pm

    @Mike J: Nesmith wrote Different Drum as a guy song, and as such it’s kinda meh if not offensive; but as sung by Linda it’s hot, playing against rather than reinforcing stereotype.

  34. 34.

    Zinsky

    August 31, 2015 at 4:59 pm

    Rick Wakeman of Yes also used it extensively on “Six Wives of Henry VIII”, one of his early solo albums.

  35. 35.

    ranchandsyrup

    August 31, 2015 at 5:00 pm

    Radiohead uses an ondes martenot, which is purty cool. Super early electronic instrument.
    eta: can sound like a theramin

  36. 36.

    Germy Shoemangler

    August 31, 2015 at 5:00 pm

    1940, Alec Wilder:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgglQuGM9q4

  37. 37.

    pete

    August 31, 2015 at 5:03 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler: Great list! And it includes not one, two, not three but FOUR Rolling Stones tracks, Play with Fire being much the best. (The others are Dandelion, Yesterday’s Papers and In Another Land.)

  38. 38.

    trollhattan

    August 31, 2015 at 5:05 pm

    Am newly informed “Lady Jane” features a dulcimer played by Brian, not a harpsichord. Shows you what you can “learn” listening to AM radio.

  39. 39.

    Germy Shoemangler

    August 31, 2015 at 5:05 pm

    @pete: “Fixing A Hole” from Sgt. Pepper always comes to mind, when it comes to Harpsichord.

  40. 40.

    mai naem mobile

    August 31, 2015 at 5:06 pm

    I think there’s a bunch of 60s stuff using harpsichord. I think the Doors stuff uses harpsichord – Touch Me and Don’t You Love Me. Never been a fan so might have the wrong title. Also Traffic – Mr Fantasy and I think the Moody Blues have a couple of songs as well.

  41. 41.

    Origuy

    August 31, 2015 at 5:07 pm

    I remember in seventh grade music class going to another teacher’s house to see his harpsichord. He had a beautiful house. Three things in that memory show my age: music class in junior high, a field trip, and a teacher with the income to own a large house.

  42. 42.

    Rasputin's Evil Twin

    August 31, 2015 at 5:10 pm

    At least one version of “Windmills of your Mind” had harpsichord ? Which one is beyond my recall. Also, “To Sir, With Love”?

  43. 43.

    Trooptrap Tripetrope

    August 31, 2015 at 5:11 pm

    “Scarborough Fair” by Simon & Gar-somthing-or-other

  44. 44.

    Randy P

    August 31, 2015 at 5:11 pm

    There was a 60s TV show that had an (electronic) harpsichord intro, but which one it was escapes me. I so far have checked out “The Saint” and “Secret Agent”, but it’s not either of those. But something in my brain tells me it was a show in that general type of action genre.

  45. 45.

    japa21

    August 31, 2015 at 5:12 pm

    Next up: Popular music which featured a kazoo. (hint: there were several.)

  46. 46.

    DeathbyBass

    August 31, 2015 at 5:13 pm

    Simon & Garfunkle’s Parsley, Sage, Rosemary , and Thyme has harpsichord fill throughout.

  47. 47.

    Vtr

    August 31, 2015 at 5:13 pm

    I’m sorry, please forgive me, but Lawrence Welk-m-ah, Calcutta-m-a, anda one anda two… Somewhere around 1967.

  48. 48.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 31, 2015 at 5:20 pm

    @japa21: Bring it! I’m drawing a blank

    OT: Charlie Pierce wants to chat about Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, and I agree, it’s time

    So there’s a history there. But this latest fiasco is different by an order of magnitude. If DWS wants to oppose the Iran deal in her capacity as an otherwise insignificant member of the House minority, that’s fine with me. But if, as it appears, as national chairman of the president’s party, she actively campaigned against a measure designed to show the support of the president’s party for a monumentally important White House policy initiative, then she should have been fired from that post yesterday. If Jonathan Martin is right, and Jennifer Granholm really is waiting in the wings, then I may throw a parade.

  49. 49.

    pete

    August 31, 2015 at 5:21 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler: Magpies, weren’t they? Give them a shiny new sound and they’d work it in, but then they’d go looking for another one. Admittedly, there are four entries on that list, not including the speeded-up piano, but I don’t think you can say they overdid it.

  50. 50.

    Benw

    August 31, 2015 at 5:22 pm

    Every song by The Doors is the worst song.

  51. 51.

    Brachiator

    August 31, 2015 at 5:23 pm

    @Randy P:

    There was a 60s TV show that had an (electronic) harpsichord intro, but which one it was escapes me.

    Episodes of The Prisoner may have had some harpsichord.

    The British show Danger Man had harpsichord in the opening and end credits, but I don’t know if this was shown much in the US

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wwm2_JJLYY

  52. 52.

    gbear

    August 31, 2015 at 5:24 pm

    The first harpsichord song that came to mind may be one of the worst songs ever: Grove of Eglantine by Styx. Now I can’t get it out.

  53. 53.

    gogol's wife

    August 31, 2015 at 5:25 pm

    @JPL:

    Isn’t it wonderful?

  54. 54.

    Vtr

    August 31, 2015 at 5:27 pm

    By the way, it, but I’ve seen a YouTube video of Zappa playing a tune on the inverted bicycle and stick. I believe it was a 26″ Raleigh. Long before the Mothers or even Lumpy Gravy. It inspired me to go for my music major.

  55. 55.

    gogol's wife

    August 31, 2015 at 5:27 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    That’s mind-blowing.

    So Enoch Light and the Light Brigade (haven’t thought of that monicker for a while) used harpsichord for “Zorba the Greek”? That’s hilarious!

  56. 56.

    Randy P

    August 31, 2015 at 5:28 pm

    @Brachiator: That’s the show known as “Secret Agent” in the US. That’s exactly the theme song I was trying to remember. But the YouTube I found for “Secret Agent” had an electric guitar and a singer. Maybe they changed it for US release when they changed the title? Yet I remember that harpsichord opening.

  57. 57.

    gogol's wife

    August 31, 2015 at 5:30 pm

    John Williams makes nice use of harpsichord in the score for Hitchcock’s Family Plot. The only thing that diminishes my enjoyment of it is that he made similar use of harpsichord in his score for Fitzwilly nine years earlier.

  58. 58.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 31, 2015 at 5:31 pm

    Clover Over Dover by Blur.

    M79 by Vampire Weekend

  59. 59.

    Germy Shoemangler

    August 31, 2015 at 5:31 pm

    @Benw:

    http://notesironbound.blogspot.com/2015/08/i-was-teenage-doors-fan.html

    Also, Trump as George Wallace:
    http://notesironbound.blogspot.com/2015/08/america-has-its-own-antecedents-for.html

  60. 60.

    trollhattan

    August 31, 2015 at 5:35 pm

    @Brachiator:
    Danger Man was repackaged as Secret Agent for the US market, for which they added the excellent “Secret Agent Man” theme song sung by Johnny Rivers.

  61. 61.

    Gimlet

    August 31, 2015 at 5:39 pm

    @japa21:

    A Kazoo?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDSJsxi_LOY

  62. 62.

    trollhattan

    August 31, 2015 at 5:40 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler:
    Speaking of Trump, Jon Stewart may no longer be in our living rooms but he left us this to have fun with.

  63. 63.

    Shakezula

    August 31, 2015 at 5:41 pm

    I have it in my head that there’s a Love song (not a love song) with harpsichord, but I could be imagining things. I did not recall that Both Sides Now has a harpsichord, but that’s probably down to the fact I do not like that song. It’s twee.

    @Gin & Tonic: Yes please.

  64. 64.

    Matt Mangels

    August 31, 2015 at 5:42 pm

    “Burning of the Midnight Lamp” by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
    “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times” by The Beach Boys

  65. 65.

    gogol's wife

    August 31, 2015 at 5:46 pm

    @Shakezula:

    Midsomer Murders makes hilarious use of theremin.

  66. 66.

    burnspbesq

    August 31, 2015 at 5:46 pm

    @Alex:

    For Harpsichords, I go with Bach …

    Father or sons? Mahan Esfahani has made a wonderful recording of C.P.E. Bach’s “Wurtemburg” sonatas.

  67. 67.

    Shakezula

    August 31, 2015 at 5:47 pm

    @Origuy: And a harpsichord. Those things are not cheap.

  68. 68.

    burnspbesq

    August 31, 2015 at 5:47 pm

    @redshirt:

    I’m saving my powder for the theremin thread.

    I’m picking up good vibrations …

  69. 69.

    Eljai

    August 31, 2015 at 5:47 pm

    Most of the harpischordy pop songs I can think of are from the 60s/70s, except for “Howling at the Moon” by the Ramones, which came out in 1984 or somewhere around there and the harpischord is kind of subtle.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmHoXqzy8GU&feature=youtu.be

  70. 70.

    jayackroyd

    August 31, 2015 at 5:50 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler: Thanks. It’s clearly I Think I Love You by The Partridge Family.

  71. 71.

    NickM

    August 31, 2015 at 5:50 pm

    I’ve Got Something on My Mind by the Left Banke. I initially thought one of my favorite songs, She May Call You Up Tonight by the LB also had a harpsichord, but listening to it again I think it’s only a baroque-sounding piano.

  72. 72.

    M31

    August 31, 2015 at 5:50 pm

    here’s Liberace and Phyllis Diller on the harpsichord:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mRK5A45Qrc

    argh

  73. 73.

    AndyG

    August 31, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    @Alexandra:

    Seconded

  74. 74.

    M31

    August 31, 2015 at 5:52 pm

    lol, as an actual harpsichordist and composer of serious music for the harpsichord, I’m enjoying this thread

    No one mentioned the Beatle’s Piggies song yet?

  75. 75.

    lgerard

    August 31, 2015 at 5:53 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    Here is a list of pop tunes with harpsichord over the past 80 years or so:

    http://www.christopherlewis.net/pop-music.html

    Further proof that you can find anything on the internet if you look hard enough

    Nice to see Martin Newell’s “Greatest Living Englishman” on that list

  76. 76.

    jayackroyd

    August 31, 2015 at 5:53 pm

    @Vtr: Wasn’t that on the Steve Allen show?

  77. 77.

    NickM

    August 31, 2015 at 5:54 pm

    Oh, and “Court of the Crimson King” by King Crimson, too.

  78. 78.

    trollhattan

    August 31, 2015 at 5:55 pm

    @gogol’s wife:
    Can this theremin performance be topped? No, it cannot be topped.

  79. 79.

    Brachiator

    August 31, 2015 at 5:56 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Danger Man was repackaged as Secret Agent for the US market, for which they added the excellent “Secret Agent Man” theme song sung by Johnny Rivers.

    Yep. I wasn’t sure if they showed all the episodes of the British version when they re-packaged it for the US (as with the Avengers).

    And yeah, great Johnny Rivers main theme.

    I was looking at the Wiki and see that Rivers has never been selected for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That’s not right.

  80. 80.

    lgerard

    August 31, 2015 at 5:57 pm

    @Shakezula:

    I have it in my head that there’s a Love song (not a love song) with harpsichord, but I could be imagining things.

    That would be “Stephanie Knows Who” from De Capo

  81. 81.

    gnomedad

    August 31, 2015 at 5:58 pm

    By sheer coincidence, I watched an old Man from UNCLE last night; that used the harpsichord a fair amount.

  82. 82.

    JPL

    August 31, 2015 at 6:01 pm

    @trollhattan: What do you mean it can’t be topped… Do you mean two wrongs don’t make a right?

  83. 83.

    AdamK

    August 31, 2015 at 6:01 pm

    Donovan! Wear your love like heaven! Sunshine superman! You people aren’t hip at all, are you?

  84. 84.

    piratedan

    August 31, 2015 at 6:03 pm

    I dunno,

    I prefer the musical saw in this one….. from They Might Be Giants

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh0IqC8Chr4

  85. 85.

    scav

    August 31, 2015 at 6:04 pm

    @lgerard: Something similar from The Guard which mentions it emerging in hip-hop.

  86. 86.

    Porco Rosso

    August 31, 2015 at 6:06 pm

    Kinks Face to Face had Too Much on My Mind and Session Man

    Didn’t Two Sisters also feature a harpsichord?

  87. 87.

    Cephalus Max

    August 31, 2015 at 6:07 pm

    Cyprus Avenue, not Cypress, right?

  88. 88.

    Porco Rosso

    August 31, 2015 at 6:09 pm

    How did Beecham describe the sound produced by a harpsichord–“two skeletons copulating on a tin roof in a thunderstorm.”

  89. 89.

    Cervantes

    August 31, 2015 at 6:10 pm

    Have there been any songs with harpsichords in them in the last 30 years or was is just 60s/70s thing?

    Well, I liked Telemann.

    that early Linda Ronstadt song “Different Drum”

    Technically, that was by the Stone Poneys.

    I liked it, too.

  90. 90.

    gogol's wife

    August 31, 2015 at 6:20 pm

    @NickM:

    That brings back memories.

  91. 91.

    gogol's wife

    August 31, 2015 at 6:21 pm

    @M31:

    Phyllis Diller used to appear playing the harpsichord on talk shows quite a bit.

  92. 92.

    Schlemazel

    August 31, 2015 at 6:26 pm

    @burnspbesq:
    P.D.Q Bach for my money

  93. 93.

    Schlemazel

    August 31, 2015 at 6:28 pm

    @Shakezula:
    Back in the early 80s there was a place that sold harpsichord kits. You got the guts and all the wooden case parts you had to sand and do some finish work on the wood and assemble it. I often regret not doing it . . . but then we would have to have moved it several times so maybe not so much.

  94. 94.

    Schlemazel

    August 31, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    @Brachiator:
    Proof that the RnRHoF is irrelevant. A cheap marketing gimmick for a dying city

  95. 95.

    dlm

    August 31, 2015 at 6:33 pm

    @Randy P:I think you are referring to the Avengers with Ms. Emma Peel and Mr. John Steed.

  96. 96.

    raven

    August 31, 2015 at 6:33 pm

    @pete: Sitting on a Fence.

  97. 97.

    Ninedragonspot

    August 31, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    Hungarian Rock!

  98. 98.

    raven

    August 31, 2015 at 6:36 pm

    Donovan Susan’s on the West Coast Waiting.

    To Susan on the west coast waiting
    From Andy in Vietnam fighting

  99. 99.

    oldswede

    August 31, 2015 at 6:37 pm

    @pete: Harpsichords were featured in a lot of Brian Jones era Rolling Stones music. Jones, Jack Nitzsche, and Ian Stewart all have liner credits for the instrument. A few tunes include Ride On Baby, Sitting on a Fence, Lady Jane and ones mentioned above.

  100. 100.

    Barney

    August 31, 2015 at 6:39 pm

    Talking of Cyprus Avenue, Van the Man is 70 today, and played 2 gigs in Cyprus Ave.!

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-34101711

    I second ‘Golden Brown’:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkR_HafkYak

  101. 101.

    dlm

    August 31, 2015 at 6:41 pm

    @dlm: Correction that was Mrs. Emma Peel

  102. 102.

    oldswede

    August 31, 2015 at 6:42 pm

    @AdamK: Way back in the sixties, I was involved with a concert promotion group. One of our bookings was Donovan and the contract from his people included a requirement that we provide an electric harpsichord. Not easy to find, but we managed.

  103. 103.

    El Caganer

    August 31, 2015 at 6:44 pm

    @Alex: Yeah, but they never cut an album or toured together; just jammed a few times.

  104. 104.

    RobNYNY1957

    August 31, 2015 at 6:53 pm

    I think that both “Love is Blue” (“L’amour est bleu”) and “I Think I Love You” (David Cassidy’s big hit around 1970) both had harpsichord. Harpsichord was pretty common in suspenseful TV scores, as well.

  105. 105.

    Librarian

    August 31, 2015 at 6:57 pm

    @trollhattan: a song, btw, that Patrick McGoohan hated.

  106. 106.

    Librarian

    August 31, 2015 at 6:58 pm

    Another Beatles song is “Because “.

  107. 107.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 31, 2015 at 7:02 pm

    @oldswede: Were they harpsichords or celestas? I believe that in Lady Jane at least is was a celesta.

  108. 108.

    Cervantes

    August 31, 2015 at 7:04 pm

    @RobNYNY1957:

    I think “L’amour est bleu” rendered as an instrumental by Paul Mauriat used the harpsichord, and Claudine Longet’s version as well — but I don’t recall any in the original by Vicky Leandros.

    Anyhow, I’m off. Have a great evening.

  109. 109.

    Death Panel Truck

    August 31, 2015 at 7:04 pm

    The Yardbirds’ “For Your Love,” the song that drove Eric Clapton out of the band.

  110. 110.

    J R in WV

    August 31, 2015 at 7:07 pm

    Greensleeves was big in the 60s, lots of twangy keyboards!

  111. 111.

    Cervantes

    August 31, 2015 at 7:10 pm

    @J R in WV:

    Hey, thanks so much for that insightful comment the other day about your dad and how he took a stand for civil rights.

    I have not had a chance to respond properly, hence this short note for now.

  112. 112.

    dSmith

    August 31, 2015 at 7:17 pm

    @Death Panel Truck: It has been noted they got the harpsichord to sustain, adding to the strangeness. Normally they have no sustain.

  113. 113.

    jacel

    August 31, 2015 at 7:24 pm

    @japa21: The first to come to mind is The Kinks doing “She Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina’s”. Also country singer Marty Cooper (with the Big Town Kazoos) “Mr. Kazoo Man” — a 45 I picked up about twenty copies of at a record store’s clearance sale (at five cents each) forty-five years ago. “Mr. Kazoo Man / I’m just like you man / What can I do, man? / I’m Mister Kazoo”.

  114. 114.

    oldswede

    August 31, 2015 at 7:24 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Liner notes say harpsichord.

  115. 115.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 31, 2015 at 7:28 pm

    @oldswede: Let’s go with the liner notes then. She’s a Rainbow is definitely celesta

  116. 116.

    pete

    August 31, 2015 at 7:28 pm

    @oldswede: Of course, you’re right. Why, there are even more: Google “harpsichord site:http://www.timeisonourside.com/“. (Great site, if you don’t know it) I still think Play with Fire is by far the best, though.

  117. 117.

    Applejinx

    August 31, 2015 at 7:30 pm

    @jacel: This! I just dug it up especially to show the thread.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DdlUJTycKo

    AND it has kazoos. I think this wins the thread :)

  118. 118.

    germy shoemangler

    August 31, 2015 at 7:32 pm

    “I was dreaming of the past, and my heart was beating fast…”

    Back when John Lennon’s song “Jealous Guy” was still “Child of Nature”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZFVC0DOrRU

  119. 119.

    Dan Myers

    August 31, 2015 at 7:51 pm

    “Girl With No Eyes” from the album “it’s a Beautiful Day” Harpsichord and violin

  120. 120.

    WaterGirl

    August 31, 2015 at 8:01 pm

    @Dan Myers: One of the best albums ever.

  121. 121.

    oldswede

    August 31, 2015 at 8:06 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: My apology is in order. Further research reveals that Brian Jones was playing a dulcimer on that song (according to an interview with Mick Jagger and various collections of album credits). The harpsichord was played by Jones, Jack Nitzsche, Ian Stewart, or even Bill Wyman. They are all credited for harpsichord on the album, but none specifically for Lady Jane.

  122. 122.

    J R in WV

    August 31, 2015 at 8:07 pm

    @JPL:

    Yes, it is. Thank you for noticing, we work hard for that feeling! And Cole allows us to be like that.

  123. 123.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 31, 2015 at 8:11 pm

    @oldswede: No need for an apology.

  124. 124.

    redshirt

    August 31, 2015 at 8:12 pm

    Has anyone smashed a harpsichord up on stage?

    If not, that’s a meme ready for the taking.

  125. 125.

    J R in WV

    August 31, 2015 at 8:16 pm

    @Cervantes:

    You’re welcome. He was an interesting guy in many ways. Worked hard at things he loved! Hated prejudice of all sorts, gays, racial, you name it, he was ag’in it, if it was prejudice. Uncommon for Republicans now-a-days, not so rare back then.

    He once lost a libel suit, the other guy was awarded $1.00 by the jury, and spent FSM only knows appealing it to the US Supreme Court, where he got his dollar back.

    True fact! He’s in the law books as fundamental journalism libel law. I’m sure it cost many thousands more than the verdict he was fighting but it was the principle of the thing!

  126. 126.

    redshirt

    August 31, 2015 at 8:16 pm

    It’s weird. Lou Merloni is doing play by play on radio in the place of Dave O’Brien.

    I FEAR CHANGE#

  127. 127.

    Amir Khalid

    August 31, 2015 at 8:26 pm

    She’s The One off Bruce Springsteen’s Born To Run album, with new E Street Band hire Roy Bittan on the instrument.

  128. 128.

    smintheus

    August 31, 2015 at 8:28 pm

    A tasty hint of harpsichord at the beginning of Georgie Fame’s Peaceful, which is one of my favorite Brit pop recordings.

    But for the full harpsichord treatement, I kinda like this obscure Zombies recording, Imagine the Swan.

  129. 129.

    redshirt

    August 31, 2015 at 8:33 pm

    @efgoldman: Go ahead and listen now. He’s doing PBP.

    Merloni and Castiglione.

    Too much Italian?

  130. 130.

    Cole Moore Odell

    August 31, 2015 at 8:42 pm

    “One For the Cutters” by the Hold Steady is a fun song with tons of harpsichord

  131. 131.

    dn

    August 31, 2015 at 8:44 pm

    Another Van Morrison entry – “Everyone”.

    ETA: More recently, I’m pretty sure Arcade Fire used one on “Rococo”.

    ETA again: Dillard and Clark used one very effectively on “The Radio Song” and other songs from the Fantastic Expedition album.

  132. 132.

    smintheus

    August 31, 2015 at 8:58 pm

    Francoise Hardy’s French recording of Tiny Goddess is pretty fab, but I think I like her Italian version even better.

  133. 133.

    wapsie

    August 31, 2015 at 8:59 pm

    come on, get happeeeeeeeeeeeeee

    [mod cartoon partridge parade]

  134. 134.

    smintheus

    August 31, 2015 at 9:13 pm

    Surprised that nobody has mentioned The Association’s hit, Windy.

  135. 135.

    Joel

    August 31, 2015 at 9:24 pm

    half a world away by REM?

    I can’t wait for the “Melodica” thread. I call dibs on Augustus Pablo.

  136. 136.

    Heliopause

    August 31, 2015 at 9:29 pm

    Haven’t read all the comments but I assume that by now you’ve been told that In My Life did not have a harpsichord in it.

  137. 137.

    lowcountryboil

    August 31, 2015 at 11:13 pm

    Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” from their “Mezzanine” album in 1998 uses harpsichord. Funny thing — I’ve loved that song for years, but only recently learned that it was used as the theme song for the show “House.”

  138. 138.

    redshirt

    September 1, 2015 at 12:18 am

    I don’t think Lou is a long term PBP guy.

  139. 139.

    Mike G

    September 1, 2015 at 12:58 am

    Billy Joel “She’s Right on Time” has a nice harpsichord break at 2:42

    https://youtu.be/Z4lh4Ahl46E?t=2m42s

  140. 140.

    moderateindy

    September 1, 2015 at 2:16 am

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    @Mike J: Mike Nesmith’s mom invented White Out, so he was set for life from an early age. This freed him to compose wonderful tunes and get grumpy about being a Monkee.

    That’s a common misconception. His mother invented Liquid Paper when he was 13, and it took a great deal of time before the company made his mother any real money. She sold it for a tidy sum in the late 70’s, and he really didn’t see any money from it till she died in 1980.
    He actually joined the Air Force in 60, and was an airlpane mechanic for a couple years. All his money came from being a Monkee, and faced financial problems in the early 70’s due to having pay back part of that cash as a stipulation of getting out of his Monkees contract

  141. 141.

    Tommy T

    September 1, 2015 at 3:02 am

    Rosemary Clooney’s (yes, George’s mom) “Come on-a my house”.
    Ross Bagdasarian (yes, that chipmunks guy) put not just a harpsichord, but a friggin’ harpsichord SOLO in the middle. In boogie-woogie style no less.

  142. 142.

    Thunderbird

    September 1, 2015 at 7:58 am

    @Zinsky: I believe you’re thinking of “Fixing a Hole.”

  143. 143.

    Cervantes

    September 1, 2015 at 9:19 am

    @Tommy T:

    Rosemary Clooney’s (yes, George’s mom)

    Aunt.

    Sister of his father, Nick.

  144. 144.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    September 1, 2015 at 10:09 am

    I wouldn’t call it the “best” but Magnetic Fields had a song called “In an Operetta” that is a fun and humorous combination of lampooning and homage to Gilbert and Sullivan. Features harpsichord of course.

  145. 145.

    gus

    September 1, 2015 at 11:42 am

    @Matt Mangels: Yes! “Burning of the Midnight Lamp” is a fantastic song.

  146. 146.

    Jim

    September 1, 2015 at 1:07 pm

    Donovan – Hampstead Incident

  147. 147.

    Pappy G

    September 1, 2015 at 11:46 pm

    The Clash’s cover of Career Opportunities on Sandinista.

  148. 148.

    Radio One

    September 2, 2015 at 1:30 am

    John Hiatt allowed a pretty epic harpsichord solo in his song against the 1990s media “Shredding the Document”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_HPqaVrCDc

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - way2blue - SINALEI, SAMOA—RESPITE EDITION—FEBRUARY 2025.  (second of five) 8
Image by way2blue (7/16/25)
Donate

Recent Comments

  • Ken B on Thursday Morning Open Thread (Jul 17, 2025 @ 8:09am)
  • p.a. on Thursday Morning Open Thread (Jul 17, 2025 @ 8:05am)
  • Betty Cracker on Thursday Morning Open Thread (Jul 17, 2025 @ 8:05am)
  • TurnItOffAndOnAgain on Thursday Morning Open Thread (Jul 17, 2025 @ 7:59am)
  • BretH on Thursday Morning Open Thread (Jul 17, 2025 @ 7:56am)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!