Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
27 Mar 2022 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: i'm ok, styx
Styx: “I’m O.K.” (1978)
Like contemporaries Kansas, who leaned more toward progressive rock, Styx had a pretty clearly-defined two-album artistic career peak. Both bands released their two finest albums between 1976 and ’78.
Pieces of Eight, which followed platinum breakthrough The Grand Illusion, was a more than worthy follow-up. It combined some of the progressive tendencies of their pre-Tommy Shaw early work with tight, commercial singles like “Blue Collar Man” and “Renegade”.
While all three of the album’s singles were penned by Shaw (the third being the joyous “Sing For the Day”) Dennis DeYoung’s “I’m O.K.” certainly could have been a single.
Perhaps the church organ solo disqualified it.
But this song is like DeYoung’s answer to Shaw’s “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)” from the previous LP–uplifting pop/rock psychology from an era when so-called “classic rock” was trying to hold its own in a landscape altered by disco and punk.
27 Mar 2022 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: taquirari de jaina, viento de los andes
Viento de los Andes: “Taquirari De Jaina” (1994)
Led by Jose Arcieniegas, Viento de los Andes are a group of musicians from Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile and, uh, Canada who play music of the Andes region of South America using traditional instruments.
This is the kind of stuff you sprinkle like huacatay on your shuffle playlist for a little international flavor, rather, perhaps, than consume in 40-minute, full album servings.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/04/19/songs-you-may-have-missed-394/
27 Mar 2022 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: unchained melody
(via Goldmine) by Bill Bronk
Bring together and meld a powerful, hauntingly beautiful melody with a lyric that touches the soul…and you have “Unchained Melody,” an honest, tender and unapologetic ode to love and longing.
Adapted from composer Alex North’s film score for the 1955 movie Unchained, the lyrics were written by Tin Pan Alley lyricist and composer Hy Zaret. Burdened with an inauspicious beginning in a mostly unknown black and white “B” movie, “Unchained Melody” went on to become an iconic and timeless love song for the ages.
Verse
Oh, my love, my darling, I’ve hungered for your touch, a long, lonely time.
And time goes by so slowly and time can do so much, Are You Still Mine?
I need your love,__ I need your love,__God speed your love__ to me.
Refrain/Chorus
Lonely rivers flow__to the sea,__to the sea, To the open arms__of the sea
Lonely rivers sigh,__”Wait for me__wait for me!, I’ll be coming home,__wait for me”!
Lyric by Hy Zaret
There’s a story behind every song… and this one is fascinating. Beloved around the world, “Unchained Melody” began its heralded journey in 1954. As reported in The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) on June 28, 1954: “Hall Bartlett, producer of ‘Unchained’, which will start filming July 6 at the California Institute for Men, will have Alex North as the composer and conductor of the film”.
26 Mar 2022 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: chris norman, parody video, stumblin' in, suzi quatro
Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman’s lip-synched TV performance video for their 1979 hit “Stumblin’ In” is (above) is brilliantly parodied by Magdalena and Anna Bielecka of Poland (below).
The attention to detail is amazing. Hard to say who had more fun–Suzi and Chris, Magdalena and Anna, or those responsible for the 7+ million YouTube views.
There’s also a side-by-side comparison video to help you fully appreciate how well these girls nailed it.
Every Moment Has A Song 