Scorpions’ ‘Wind of Change’: The Oral History of 1990’s Epic Power Ballad

14 Sep 2015 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags: ,

scorpions

(via Rolling Stone)

By Richard Bienstock

In the 1980s and very early Nineties, every hard-rock and metal act worth their leathers scored big with a power ballad or two. But only Germany’s the Scorpions can say that one of theirs — in this case, 1990’s “Wind of Change” — also served as a soundtrack of sorts to a political and cultural revolution. The song’s sentiments of hope and peace, broadly stated by vocalist Klaus Meine (“The world is closing in/Did you ever think/That we could be so close/Like brothers?”), not to mention an accompanying, Wayne Isham–directed video that employed footage of the construction and tearing down of the Berlin Wall, led to its being inextricably linked to the end of the Cold War and the reunification of East and West Germany…

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/scorpions-wind-of-change-the-oral-history-of-1990s-epic-power-ballad-20150902#ixzz3lmA1biGp

Video of the Week: Brad Paisley–Geology

14 Sep 2015 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Video of the Week Tags: ,

Way back in the distant past
Five hundred million years or greater
Tennessee was a tectonic plate
Under the ocean near the equator.
In a few million years the plates began
A steady northern migration
Volcanoes blew and the earth arose
To form the Appalachians.
The range of mountains began to form
Four hundred million years ago
And sandstone formations
Along the Cumberland Plateau
The Paleozoic and the Mesozoic
Built the hills just like a mason
And in the Cenozoic era
Appeared the Nashville basin.
Beneath the limestone, sandstone, and shale,
The earth moved as it must
And formed the Blue Ridge mountains
By subhorizontal thrust.
And here on plutonic igneous rocks
On a Precambrian promontory
That is where I first met you
Which is a whole other story…

Best of Breslin: ‘Are You John Lennon?’

06 Sep 2015 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags:

lennon

The legendary reporter’s classic column on the night John Lennon was shot.

(via The Daily Beast)

by Jimmy Breslin

I was home in bed in Forest Hills, Queens, at 11:20 P.M. when the phone and television at once said Lennon was shot. I was dressed and into Manhattan, to Roosevelt Hospital, the Dakota, up to the precinct, grabbed a cop inside, back to the Dakota, grabbed a cop outside, and to the Daily News. I wrote this column and it made a 1:30 A.M. deadline. I don’t think there is anybody else who can do this kind of work this quickly...

Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/05/best-of-breslin-are-you-john-lennon.html

Songs You May Have Missed #548

05 Sep 2015 Leave a comment

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

hackett

Steve Hackett: “Sleepers” (edit) (2010)

I consider it no knock on Steve Hackett to say he has created some of my favorite music to fall asleep to–maybe not what most rock guitarists would want as an epitaph, but perhaps he wouldn’t mind.

His albums display a variety of styles and moods, but I find him most affecting when he evokes the restful hours at day’s end, and the inside of my eyelids provide the movie to Hackett’s beautiful soundtrack.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/08/02/songs-you-may-have-missed-159/

Songs You May Have Missed #547

05 Sep 2015 Leave a comment

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

dido

Dido: “Here with Me” (1999)

Although Sarah McLachlan, Beth Orton and Sinéad O’Connor are all apt points of reference, the dream pop/trip-hop arrangement aside it’s Sade that I could most easily hear singing this song if not Dido herself.

The debut single of her career, it reached number 4 in the UK, although it failed to crack the top 100 stateside.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/03/27/songs-you-may-have-missed-375/

Songs You May Have Missed #546

05 Sep 2015 Leave a comment

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

blades

Rubén Blades: “Ganas de Verte” (1996)

The title translates as “I want to see you” and although the translation that I found for the rest is a little muddy in places, I do like this verse:

Sometimes I think I have heard your call

Above the roar of the waves in the sea

I hope tomorrow brings an awakening

You next to me

bladesPanamanian singer-songwriter, Latin jazz artist, accomplished actor, Harvard graduate and activist Blades has had a long and interesting career. Musically, he’s credited with experimenting with and broadening the style of Salsa music over a period stretching back to the 1970’s.

Other than that he holds a law degree and has run for president of his country, capturing 18% of the vote in 1994.

…pretty much like any singer.

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