(via the Daily Mail)
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4271886/Are-awkward-heavy-metal-bands-ever.html
The Babys 40th Anniversary Interview with John Waite, Jonathan Cain
03 Mar 2017 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: the babys
(via In the Studio with Redbeard)
Recalling my first introduction to British band The Babys across four decades is still vivid. Driving home late at night in a 1965 Ford Fairlane with an AM-only radio, a song came on that opened with a melancholy naked piano melody. Then a lush orchestra joined in as a male voice with just a hint of an English accent sang,”Falling in love was the last thing I had on my mind…”. Then a solo trumpet repeated the melody the singer had just sung, but mariachi-like. Then these female backup singers come in prominently on the bridge to this huge hooky chorus. But wait: the lead singer switched places with the girl singers, who then take over belting out the chorus. What??!
Listen here: http://www.inthestudio.net/online-only-interviews/babys-40th-anniversary-john-waitejonathan-cain/
Recommended Albums #73
01 Mar 2017 Leave a comment
in Recommended Albums Tags: arts & leisure, walter martin
Walter Martin: Arts & Leisure (2016)
Ex-Walkmen singer-songwriter Walter Martin has an easy, whimsical, tongue-in-cheek way with a song that calls to mind people like Jens Lekman and even Paul Simon.
Arts & Leisure is a travelogue of sorts. With wry specificity Martin takes the listener on a tour of places he’s seen, jobs he’s had and people he’s been, with a love of art at the forefront of much of the album.
I don’t know what’s more of a kick here, the lyrics or the playful, kooky arrangements. Percussion like the sound of coconuts takes you “Down by the Singing Sea”, and “Amsterdam” throws bass harmonica and various whistlie and tinklie things into a rollicking mix that may bring Jacques Brell to mind. Fun!
His solo debut, 2014’s We’re All Young Together was a children’s album for adults–something like They Might Be Giants might offer. But on Arts & Leisure, Martin’s childlike playful high-spiritedness is still intact as he explores a wider world. Truly this is an artist with a refreshingly unique world view.
Listen to: “Down by the Singing Sea”
Listen to: “Jobs I Had Before I Got Rich and Famous”
Listen to: “Amsterdam”
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2016/03/11/songs-you-may-have-missed-575/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2022/04/03/songs-you-may-have-missed-727/
11 Songs That Have Been Called the Worst Song Ever
01 Mar 2017 Leave a comment
(via 11 Points) by Sam Greenspan
Creating the worst song ever is quite an achievement. (At least under the “it’s better to inspire hate than indifference” ethos.) Like, there have been so many songs. Just standing out enough to be in the conversation for the worst ever is tough to do.
These are 11 songs that have been called the worst song ever by a major publication or TV network. And most of them… yeah, feel potentially worthy. Although I DO have a lot of issues with a few.
And now, onto the worst…
- My Humps by Black Eyed Peas (named the worst by The Guardian, A.V. Club and Rolling Stone readers)It’s hard to say exactly when we hit Peak Fergie. Was it when her lyrics included spelling out “tasty”… but misspelled it “t-to-the-a-to-the-s-t-e-y”? Was it her modern twist on London Bridge, turning it into a sexual metaphor? Or was it in My Humps, a tribute to her lovely lady lumps? Man I miss Peak Fergie.
- We Built This City by Starship (named the worst by Blender)We Built This City is before my time, but I have distinct memories of enjoying listening to it in college. (Maybe after Homer sang it on The Simpsons? The episode where the Simpsons were briefly incarcerated and on the lam after Spring Break in Florida did come out around that time.) I think I liked it because I didn’t know it was terrible. It’s so optimistic! And it has that interlude where the radio DJ talks. Bad call, Blender.
- Friday by Rebecca Black (named the worst by the BBC)Friday remains one of the most fascinating moments in social media history. It’s going to be included in SO many theses on the rise, power and influence of YouTube over the next 30 years. But despite the inane lyrical content and transparency that it’s generically manufactured — I still don’t hate it.
Read more:
http://www.11points.com/Music/11_Songs_That_Have_Been_Called_the_Worst_Song_Ever
Songs You May Have Missed #612
24 Feb 2017 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: bee gees, morning of my life (in the morning)
Bee Gees: “Morning of My Life (In the Morning)” (1971)
For such an obscure song, the Bee Gees’ “Morning of My Life” has quite a long history in the Gibb family. It was first recorded by the band in 1966 during sessions for their debut Spicks and Specks album. During the period when Robin Gibb left to pursue a solo career, Barry and Maurice performed the song acoustically with their sister Lesley on a BBC-TV special. And the group recorded the song once again with Robin during the sessions for their 2 Years On reunion LP.
While the song was ultimately left off that album it appeared a short time later on the soundtrack to the 1971 film Melody. It has appeared on Bee Gees compilations and box sets but never on an official Bee Gees album. Andy Gibb too recorded a version that was never released.
As a Moody Blues fan, when I first heard “Morning of My Life” I thought the similarities to the Moodies’ 1971 “Emily’s Song” were striking. Since the Bee Gees song has origins half a decade previous, if one song influenced the other it was certainly the Bee Gees tune that inspired the one by the Moody Blues, and this seems fairly likely to me.
Take note not only of the common lyrical threads but of the general similarity in feel between the song Barry Gibb seems to have aimed at a young child and the composition John Lodge of the Moody Blues wrote for his newborn daughter Emily (and which parenthetically inspired the naming of my own daughter Emily):
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/03/22/songs-you-may-have-missed-58/
Songs You May Have Missed #611
24 Feb 2017 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ariana grande, mika, popular song
Mika (featuring Ariana Grande): “Popular Song” (2015)
Cheeky British singer-songwriter Mika sells platinum elsewhere but resides in the musical margins in the U.S.
Here with the help of Ariana Grande he sings a song about fickle popularity, karma and sweet schadenfreude.
La la, la la
You were the popular one, the popular chick
It is what it is, now I’m popular-ish
Standing on the field with your pretty pompom
Now you’re working at the movie selling popular corn
I could have been a mess but I never went wrong
‘Cause I’m putting down my story in a popular song
I said I’m putting down my story in a popular song
[Chorus:]
My problem, I never was a model,
I never was a scholar,
But you were always popular,
You were singing all the songs I don’t know
Now you’re in the front row
‘Cause my song is popular
Popular, I know about popular
It’s not about who you are or your fancy car
You’re only ever who you were
Popular, I know about popular
And all that you have to do is be true to you
That’s all you ever need to know
So catch up ’cause you got an awful long way to go
So catch up ’cause you got an awful long way to go
Always on the lookout for someone to hate,
Picking on me like a dinner plate
You hid during classes, and in between ’em
Dunked me in the toilets, now it’s you that cleans them
You tried to make me feel bad with the things you do
It ain’t so funny when the joke’s on you
Ooh, the joke’s on you
Got everyone laughing, got everyone clapping, asking,
“How come you look so cool?”
‘Cause that’s the only thing that I’ve learned at school, boy (uh huh)
I said that that’s the only thing that I’ve learned at school
[Chorus:]
My problem, I never was a model,
I never was a scholar,
But you were always popular,
You were singing all the songs I don’t know
Now you’re in the front row
‘Cause my song is popular
Popular, I know about popular
It’s not about who you are or your fancy car
You’re only ever who you were
Popular, I know about popular
And all that you have to do is be true to you
That’s all you ever need to know
(that’s all you ever need to know)
So catch up ’cause you got an awful long way to go
So catch up ’cause you got an awful long way to go
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2015/09/02/songs-you-may-have-missed-545/
Every Moment Has A Song 