Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'Pop'.
Found 16 results
-
Awhile back, I wrote a humorous post about a Zip Code commercial that I remembered from my early childhood, performed by a group called "The Swingin' Six." I thought (when I was old enough to think about such things) that it was simply a group put together for this commercial, and maybe it was (sort of like "The Monkees"), but The Swingin' Six was actually a real band - with a 1967 album called "For the First Time" (having an album in those days was something akin to having a book published - it established credibility). Anyway, The Swingin' Six actually existed outside of that one commercial (which is well-worth fifteen minutes of your time to watch - it's a great slice of early 1960s pop-Americana, and I hate to say it, but the tune is catchy as all-get-out). One day, I dream of clicking on an obscure tag (like "Pat Lanigan," for example), and having it appear in multiple threads. Who knows? If we have enough threads such as this, one day we may learn some obscure trivia about people, places, or things, just by linking the tags together. (Not that he's obscure, but click on any Alfred Hitchcock tag as an example.) As for The Swingin' Six, they're very similar to The Mamas & The Papas on "Pack Your Bag" (the lead song on the album, "For the First Time," which could have probably also been titled, "For the Last Time," since I'm pretty sure it was their only album). I can picture Cass Elliot (née Ellen Naomi Cohen, and born in Baltimore) in her vinyl, knee-high boots when I hear this song. I can honestly say that when I founded this community on Apr 15, 2005, I never thought I'd be starting a thread about The Swingin' Six. Yes, bearded hipsters with your Chuck Taylors and $10 glasses of IPA, fifty years from now, people will be looking back at you with this exact same type of reminiscent fondness. When you're 80-years-old, and your grandchildren are seeing pictures and videos of you in utter disbelief and absolute horror ("Grandpa, why is everybody white?"), you're going to be cringing. I'd say, "It's not too late," but it is too late.
-
I accidentally discovered Brandi Carlile when I found out First Aid Kit was coming to Wolf Trap a year or two ago. We'd seen First Aid Kit in Richmond, VA the fall before and we knew we wanted to go see them again. We checked out the headliner and, at first glance, thought pure country - but not so! Still a goodly bit in that direction, but fun stuff. She's riding the line of country an Indie and I like what she and her band do. Here are a few of her tunes. Lots of good stuff in her discography. -
Happy Birthday John! If it weren't for a crazy man with a gun, he would have been 75 today. -
For the younger folk out there, Rosemary Clooney was George Clooney's aunt. She had a remarkably warm and graceful way of singing. She fell out of sight in the 1960s because of some personal problems, but came back strong in the 1980s with some wonderful American-songbook type records. Here (in 1984) she sings one of Irving Berlin's greatest songs, "What'll I Do?". I tormented myself with this song after a particularly painful break-up, but now it's just an old, sweet friend. -
When I was in my teens, I had one, and only one, favorite rock singer: David Bowie. He was the solo act which twisted, and turned, and seemed the most complex to me, while at the same time being just a pleasure to listen to, and he was there at the right time. Rest in peace, David.
-
My wife and I have a niece. She's soon to be married to a musician, so she has a lot of influences, some her own, some her soon to be husbands and still more. My wife gets said niece to make 'mix tapes' for her and us to explore things we have no idea we're missing. A lot of indie, some granola, a lot of acoustic and so on. Some is meh, some is too extreme in a direction for me, but some, some just hits it oddly, bizarrely right. I pointed out to my wife that a new infatuation of her's last year, First Aid Kit, was bordering on Country and I kind of teased her about it (neither of us is a fan of the genre, but appreciate the sentiment and skill). So then the damn duo (and band) got under my skin. It got so bad we found out they were coming to Richmond (later they added DC, but our plans were already made - besides we got Buz & Ned's BBQ and Rappahanock!), so we made a night of it and, may I just tell you, it was a tremendous concert in ways that it surprised me. The pure harmony of these two is what does it for me, but there is usually a good tune to go along with. I give you 'Cedar Lane'. Listen to the end. Hell listen FOR the end. Live: Studio: I mean, my music leanings are very diverse. Rooted in 70s progressive rock, dipped deeply in mid-80s new wave, meandered a bit through grunge, rekindled with the Modfather, and shattered by melodic/progressive death metal. All sprinkled with music from the last 30+ years. I mean, I hated the Beastie Boys (I thought), in the 80s, but what the hell was wrong with me? I love them. But this is a whole other conversation.
-
It's pretty obviously the Beach Boys doing a pantomime "live" performance for video to go with their audio recording of "I Get Around", but without the audio of the record. When this was put together with the audio, we got this: which is actually pretty wonderful. I love the Beach Boys, who were no more dependent on studio recording than were the Beatles to make a great sound: I can hardly convey how happy "Shut Down" makes me, every time I hear it:
-
Okay, one more 20th-century chanteuse, Sarah Vaughan, who had one of the great voices of the century, which can be mentioned in the same breath with, say, Janet Baker. Here she is in 1954, with the phenomenal horn player Clifford Brown, singing "It's Crazy":
-
While I love Ella Fitzgerald, and have mentioned elsewhere the pleasure I had in hearing her in concert long ago at Symphony Hall in Boston, she has never been one of my favorite singers, and I've never been a devotee of her cult. I think my biggest problem with Ella's singing is that in so many recordings, she seems to sing songs as if the words had no particular meaning. Not always, but often. There's no denying her mostly flawless vocal technique. My favorite album of hers is "Pure Ella", which you can find on YouTube. It's just Ella's voice and Ellis Larkins's piano; it was released in 1994, but was a combination of two LPs from the early 50s. Here is Ella from that album singing "I've Got a Crush on You."
-
Those familiar with Rod Stewart's later career might be surprised to find his name in this context, but early in his career he was certainly one of the greatest rock singers. Stewart represents to me more wasted potential than just about any other performer I can think of. Here with the Jeff Beck Group on their 1968 debut album Truth with Bonnie Dobson's "Morning Dew." Here's the title track from Stewart's second solo album, Gasoline Alley, released in 1970. The writing credit is to Stewart and his long-time collaborator Ronnie Wood, later of the Rolling Stones.
-
One of the greatest concert albums of all time, "The Johnny Otis Show Live at Monterey!", from the 1970 Monterey Jazz Festival, was once among the crown jewels of my LP collection. From that record, here is Esther Phillips, known in her early years as "Little Esther", with "Little Esther's Blues". She left us way too soon.
-
Those of a certain age will remember live television broadcasts in the 60s from far away being introduced by the incantation "Live via Telstar!" Telstar wasn't a single communications satellite but a whole generation of them, if I understand correctly, although I thought it was a specific satellite at the time. The British group The Tornados had a big hit with this rather odd instrumental in 1962, which I have loved almost all of my life. Telstar: There are two and possibly three different recordings all purporting to the be original 1962 hit floating around out there. I think this is the real one, although I'm not entirely sure.
-
Not likely. "Mental Illness Forced Joni Mitchell To Quit Stardom" by Mike Parker on express.co.uk -
Speaking of a chanteuse accompanied by string bass (like Peggy Lee in "Fever"), here's Julie London in 1964 singing "Bye Bye Blackbird" (1926) in Japan, accompanied only by bass (played by Don Bagley). Pretty nifty, especially if you like slinky, breathy chantoozies who can carry a tune.
-
As I mentioned in the Lee Wiley thread, Dinah Washington's recording of "Manhattan" (1960) includes an update to the Larry Hart original lyric from "Abie's Irish Rose" to "My Fair Lady" ("and for some high fare/we'll go to 'My Fair/ Lady', say"). In spite of the rather sappy orchestration and the extreme vibrato employed by the singer, I must admit that I adore this version of the song.
-
"Happy" by Pharrell Williams is one of those songs I'll quickly consider to be an earworm, but not yet; right now, I consider it a personal momento of an old friend who makes me happy - think about this as a "To Whom Are You Drinking Right Now" post. The accompanying video - 4 minutes long, but repeated over-and-over, lasting *24 hours* in duration - can be found at 24hoursofhappy.com. It's an interesting concept that I don't think is meant for listening until completion (*). I like that such a cheerful song is performed in the (normally) sad key of F-Minor. "Happy" will also be released on Williams' second studio album in 2014. (*) Although ...
