I've Gotta Get A Message To You

I don't mind letting on that the early singles by The Bee Gees are some of my favorite guilty pleasures. By early, I mean the pre-disco stuff, prior to their 1975 turning point album, "Main Course" which got them the "Saturday Night Fever" gig. I'm talking about the string of singles from the mid to late '60's when they were a mildly psychedelic pop band. Most of these can be found on the album, "Best of Bee Gees", which I consider a must-own, if you enjoy the hits of that era.

Today's featured tune was near the end of that early string of hits, appearing on our AM radios in 1968, a year that had much going for it in the hit single department. From the album "Idea", which also featured another big hit for them, "I Started A Joke", here's the Bee Gees with "I've Gotta Get A Message To You".

Moxy Früvous

Any attempt to describe the music of Moxy Früvous is difficult. Categorizing them is nigh impossible. Hailing from Ontario, Canada, Moxy was formed in 1989 using the name, The Chia Pets. They quickly drew unusually large crowds, and soon, the attention of Toronto's CBC Radio, which commissioned songs about political and local issues for the radio show "Later the Same Day". Some songs written for the show later appeared on their albums, including "The Gulf War Song" and "My Baby Loves A Bunch Of Authors", which was written for a Toronto authors' festival. On August 14, 1997, the title song of their album, "You Will Go To The Moon", was used by NASA to wake the crew of the Space Shuttle, Discovery. The band recorded until 2000 and folded for good after a final live performance in 2001.

Now, regarding the name "Moxy Früvous". It's a nonsense phrase, although the liner notes of their first CD "Bargainville" contained a faux-dictionary listing of definitions for "früvous". The band was known to never provide a straight answer and almost never the same answer twice when defining the band's name. However, once during an interview, they explained the name's origin by saying that they were "trying to think of a name that wasn't easy to remember and didn't mean anything", upending two conventions most bands use in determining a name. Go figure.

Their 1997 album, "You Will Go To The Moon", featured today's Kool Kover as track 3, a prominent programming spot. Normally, I find gems like this buried as hidden bonus tracks or at the least, late in the album. Here's Moxy Früvous with their very original version of "I've Gotta Get A Message To You". Enjoy!

As you might guess, there is more Bee Gees music available at Amazon than anyone would ever know what to do with. Have at it. Moxy Fruvous has a far more limited discography and all of their recordings are most reasonably priced. Like a couple of bucks each. "You Will Go To The Moon" is totally worth getting, not just for this sweet cover, but also for a hilarious acapella tune named "Kick In The Ass" that will crack you up. You know you wanna hear it. Now you can.