Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
05 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: already gone, works progress administration
Works Progress Administration: “Already Gone” (2009)
Former Toad the Wet Sprocket singer/guitarist Glen Phillips here fronts an LA supergroup featuring Nickel Creek members Sean and Sara Watkins, Benmont Tench of the Heartbreakers, drummer Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello & The Attractions) and fiddle player Luke Bulla, among others.
Named, for some reason, after FDR’s 1930’s Depression-era work program, the band bring a rootsy blend and nice harmonies to this one.
03 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
(via Loudwire) by Graham Hartmann
Whether they turned a good song into a great song or just reinvigorated an old classic, these 20 acts secured the biggest hit of their career (so far) with a cover song.
Elvis Presley’s most successful song was a cover of Big Mama Thornton. The crown jewel of Elvis’ untouchable body of work, “Hound Dog,” sold over 10 million copies globally and topped the U.S. pop chart for 11 weeks, cementing a record that stood for a staggering 36 years.
Fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Joan Jett created one of music’s most illustrious solo careers after leaving the Runaways. However, her only No. 1 hit is “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll,” a cover of an Arrows song from the ‘70s. Most people don’t even know Jett’s mega-hit is a cover, proving how synonymous the song is with rock’s leather-clad queen.
Tesla’s “Signs” is instantly recognizable, but it was the second time the song was a huge hit. Five Man Electrical Band popularized the cut in 1971, selling half a million copies of the single. When Tesla made their version of “Signs,” it peaked all the way at No. 8, besting the original, which only hit No. 24. Thanks to “Signs,” Tesla sold a million copies of their 1990 album, Five Man Acoustical Jam.
Read More: 20 Acts Whose Biggest Hit Was a Cover Song | https://loudwire.com/biggest-hit-cover-song/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
01 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: alan parsons, david pack, if i fell
Alan & I wanted to share something we’ve sung privately for decades, this all-time Beatle classic for such a worthy cause. Hope you enjoy it.
Santa Barbara’s CADA Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse has helped thousands of people regain their lives.
Alan and David’s performance captured June of 2020 by Noah Bruskin / Parsonics Santa Barbara
Russell Wiener & Stacey Pack/ Pack Studio Napa Valley
Please stay safe everyone and imagine that a better world tomorrow starts with each of us.
Follow Alan / alanparsons Instagram + Twitter: Alan Parsons and The Alan Parsons Project
Follow David / davidpackmusic http://www.DavidPack.com Instagram + Twitter: David Pack Music
01 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in Recommended Albums Tags: mariachi el bronx
Mariachi El Bronx (2009)
Just your typical Los Angeles punk band named after a borough of New York City playing music in a traditional Mexican style.
Actually, that is pretty punk.
The Bronx have been recording since 2002. After three eponymous releases under that band name they released the first of (at this writing) three albums of mariachi originals.
Not what you’d expect from a punk band, but said singer Matt Caughthran, “[Mariachi El Bronx] was something that was a part of us that we didn’t really realize. I mean, being from Los Angeles and, you know, growing up and surrounded by Mexican culture, it just kind of happened […] We were writing two or three songs a day for that record, and the lyrics and everything just kind of shit out of all of us […] it was the funnest and easiest record we’ve ever made.”
Fun to listen to also. Hope you agree.
Listen to: “Cell Mates”
Listen to: “Litigation”
Listen to: “Despretador”
Listen to: “Clown Powder”
Listen to: “Holy”
Listen to: “My Brother the Gun”
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2019/04/19/songs-you-may-have-missed-635/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2015/01/16/songs-you-may-have-missed-519/
28 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: electric light orchestra, elo, jeff lynne
(via Classic Rock) by Harry Doherty
UFOs, violins and killer songs – this the epic story of Electric Light Orchestra
Way back in the 60s, The Move were part of a peculiar pop dynasty, huge and respected in the UK while never having quite made it in the USA. By the mid-70s this most English of bands had morphed into one of the few genuinely huge bands in the world – the Electric Light Orchestra.
By 1978 ELO were selling out eight nights on the trot at Wembley Arena during a memorable global tour. When their star shone it was with a dazzling brilliance. I was lucky enough to be hanging onto their coat-tails through the 70s as they went into overdrive and into orbit, knocking out a string of exceptional hit singles and albums.
Back to The Move. Led by eccentric pop genius Roy Wood, their single Flowers In The Rain was the first ever track played on Radio 1 when the station was launched at 7am on September 30, 1967. They were Birmingham’s Beatles.
At that time, Wood was The Move: a massively inventive pop writer, a great singer and a consummate showman. He came to dislike the limitations The Move imposed upon his creative ambitions. His canvas was bigger, more colourful, a grand, kaleidoscopic, wide-screen pop-o-rama.
Read more: https://www.loudersound.com/features/electric-light-orchestra-band-history
26 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: baseball
The Baseball Project: “Past Time”
From this baseball-loving supergroup’s first album, Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails:
Chuck Brodsky: “Letters in the Dirt”
About being a kid and believing in baseball heroes. The last couple lines might put a lump in your throat.
The Baseball Project: “Harvey Haddix”
A tribute to the Pirate who threw 12 perfect innings, only to lose the game in the 13th.
Chuck Brodsky: “Bonehead Merkle”
Amazing story of how the Giants lost the pennant in the strangest of ways in 1908.
The Baseball Project: “Don’t Call Them Twinkies”
Every baseball franchise should have an anthem this great written in its honor.
We don’t buy our titles/But we still won two World Series…
Pat Donohue: “Touch ‘Em All”
An homage to Kirby Puckett from Minnesotan Pat Donohue.
The Baseball Project: “Chin Music”
Like an old time counterculture sing-along, but with a valid point about wimpy modern baseball.
We’re gonna get high and inside
Dan St. Paul: “The First Baseball Game”
Comedy bit from the Bob & Tom radio show.
Paul Schersten: “Ballpark Names Fail to Impress”
(from NPR’s All Things Considered)
Frank DeFord: “Aren’t We Tired of Watching the Pitch Count?”
(from NPR’s Morning Edition)
David Maraniss: Clemente: The Story of a True Baseball Hero
(from NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday)
Every Moment Has A Song 