Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
12 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: Led Zeppelin, spirit, stairway to heaven, taurus
(via The Week)
Led Zeppelin’s 1971 classic “Stairway to Heaven” is taking them straight to court. A U.S. judge ruled Friday that the song has “substantial” enough similarities to the instrumental piece “Taurus,” written by the band Spirit in 1967, that a jury should decide whether Led Zeppelin’s members are liable for copyright infringement…
10 Apr 2016 2 Comments
in General Posts, Video of the Week Tags: nicholas brothers
Brothers Fayard and Harold Nicholas a.k.a. the Nicholas Brothers formed one of history’s greatest and most beloved dance teams, rising from the nightclub circuit to a successful career on the big screen.
The above scene is from their personal favorite of their over 30 films, 1943’s Stormy Weather. And it just may be the greatest dance routine ever filmed. They come in at 1:30.
Among those the Nicholas brothers later gave dancing instruction to: Janet and Michael Jackson.
09 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: eric bachmann, mercy
Eric Bachmann: “Mercy” (2016)
You know how people try to console you with that philosophical bit of banality that “everything happens for a reason”?
Eric Bachmann isn’t having it.
With a self-titled release that signals a break from his snide and sneering Archers of Loaf and Crooked Fingers records of the past, Bachmann shows a newfound earnest directness in his lyrical approach.
“Mercy” bathes one such very direct message in early 60’s retro glory with an arrangement that’s equal parts Phil Spector and Four Seasons. While Bachmann reminds us that “there is chaos in the violence” and “there are those who suffer for no reason every day” the ultimate take-away message is to “fill your heart with love and cherish what you can while you are here”.
It’s what I’d call tough love.
09 Apr 2016 1 Comment
in General Posts Tags: rock and roll hall of fame, steve miller
(via USA Today)
Steve Miller was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Friday night, but apparently he didn’t enjoy the experience.
Speaking in the press room after his induction, Miller, 72, insisted, “The whole process needs to be changed…It doesn’t need to be this hard. There’s nothing fancy going on out there that requires all of this stuff.”
08 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: maura o'connell, summerfly
Maura O’Connell: “Summerfly” (1989)
This haunting folk ballad certainly deserves recognition here, where one of our main objectives is to give wider appreciation to great but lesser-known music.
The only difficult decision involved which version of the song to recognize–there are at least three excellent ones.
Cheryl Wheeler originally wrote the song, although her version wasn’t released until 1991, two years after O’Connell’s.
Chanteuse Hayley Westenra also released an excellent recording of “Summerfly” in 2007:
In another younger day I could dream the time away
In the universe inside my room
And the world was really mine from June till September
And if it wasn’t really so I was lucky not to know
And I was lucky not to wonder why
‘Cause the summertime is all that I remember
A summer fly was buzzin’ every night when I was young
In the gentle world my childlike senses knew
And the world was just my cousin, and the wind was just the tongue
In the voice my lonely moments listened to
And I look at me today all the dreams have gone away
And I am where I never thought I’d be
Seein’ things I never thought I’d see happen to me
And I lay awake at night till the darkness turns to light
Hearin’ voices callin’ out my name
Callin’ over and again the same message to me
Cryin’ who’s your partner, who’s your darlin’, who’s your baby now?
Who wakes up at night to pull you in?
It don’t matter, you’ll just make him lonely anyhow
Don’t know why you even try to win
Cryin’ who’s your partner, who’s your darlin’, who’s your baby now?
Who wakes up at night to pull you in?
It don’t matter, you’ll just make her lonely anyhow
Don’t know why you even try to win
Every Moment Has A Song 