How Pop Was Born In West Africa

20 Mar 2016 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts

(Reprinted from Culture Sonar) by Ken Hymes

(Everything I am about to tell you is boiled down. Exceptions abound, I can’t tell the whole story in a few hundred words, and music is so big and complex that it wouldn’t be hard to find another angle on this. But I want to point out the way our ideas about music were deeply shaped by African culture, beyond rhythms and “blues scales.”)

If you love blues, classic rock, jazz, or modern pop, you owe a debt to West African stringed instruments. Here’s why…

Read more: http://culturesonar.com/pop-born-in-west-africa/

10 Hidden Images on Album Covers

15 Mar 2016 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags:

(via mental floss)

by Rudie Obias

cats 2

4. Def Leppard // Retro Active

Def Leppard’s Retro Active features a 19th century woman sitting at a dressing table staring at a mirror. If you look at the cover at a distance, you can see a skull made up of the woman and her reflection. Artist Charles Allan Gilbert’s 1892 painting All is Vanity was Def Leppard’s inspiration for the album cover.

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8. Harry Nilsson & John Lennon // Pussy Cats

Recording artist Harry Nilsson teamed up with John Lennon to produce Pussy Cats in 1974. The album cover features a rug under a table with two block letters—”D” and “S”—flanking it.  If you sound out the puzzle, it reads, “D-rug-S” or specifically, “Drugs under the table.” This was an inside joke during Lennon’s “Lost Weekend” era, a drunken and drug-fueled 18 month period between 1973 and 1975.

Read more: http://mentalfloss.com/article/58886/10-hidden-images-album-covers

That awesome time in 1975 when there was a giant Alice Cooper balloon

12 Mar 2016 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags:

alice

(via Dangerous Minds)

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/that_awesome_time_in_1975_when_there_was_a_giant_alice_cooper_balloon

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Also…

Love it to death: Alice Cooper’s original guillotine ‘headed’ to auction

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http://dangerousminds.net/comments/love_it_to_death_alice_coopers_original_guillotine_headed_to_auction

10 Hours that Changed EVERYTHING

12 Mar 2016 1 Comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags: ,

(via CultureSonar)

by Al Cattabiani

It was a slow song, in the style of a plaintive Roy Orbison ballad. The band started to record it; but the producer wasn’t feeling it. He advised the band to pick up the tempo, and to add a hooky instrumental bit at the beginning.

Fortunately, the band listened to the grownup in the room.

John Lennon grabbed his harmonica. Ringo kicked up the tempo. “Please Please Me,” The Beatles’ first #1 single (in the UK) was born – and a bond between the band and George Martin was forged.

What would have happened if the lads insisted on doing it their way?

Read more: http://culturesonar.com/10-hours-that-changed-everything/

Songs You May Have Missed #575

11 Mar 2016 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: , ,

martin

Walter Martin feat. Karen O: “Sing 2 Me” (2014)

Ex-Walkmen singer-songwriter Walter Martin’s We’re All Young Together isn’t necessarily a children’s album per se–more a record inspired by his becoming a father. But its songs can be appreciated by any very young child–or anyone whose inner child is still alive and well.

“Sing 2 Me” is a duet with the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Karen O whose lyric typifies the playful tone of the album, marrying it with the fragile, magical twee of acts like the Weepies.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2017/03/01/recommended-albums-73/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2022/04/03/songs-you-may-have-missed-727/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2021/08/18/video-of-the-week-the-moscow-swing-dance-society-is-somehow-the-perfect-match-for-walter-martins-music/

Songs You May Have Missed #574

09 Mar 2016 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

deadwing

Porcupine Tree: “Shesmovedon” (2005)

Originally released on the Lightbulb Sun album in 2000, the single version of “Shesmovedon” actually reached #4 on New Music Express‘ Independent chart across the pond that year.

The band later re-recorded the song during the sessions for 2005’s Deadwing LP and it is included as an unlisted bonus track on the American version of that record.

It’s this slightly punchier, guitars-to-the-fore version we present here, and it’s one more example (of the many throughout this blog) of Steven Wilson’s songwriting and production prowess.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2014/08/10/songs-you-may-have-missed-513/

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