Black Friday has always bothered me. When I was younger I could never figure out why people would want to wake up at 3 am to camp out in front of a store, two things I hate combined camping and lack of sleep. As I got older I noticed a huge shift, stores opening earlier and earlier. It's become almost this "Apocalypse Now" style mission to go out and buy a television.
Why not do something different this year? Support a local business, more specifically support your local record shop. The 28th will be Record Store Day throughout the United States. It's a day to celebrate the magical places known as record stores, the places where you can bond with someone over music. There will be exclusive releases that you can only buy that day and of course you can spend the day browsing through the crates.
I am extremely excited about some of the exclusives and I am counting down the days until Friday. I am the most excited for "From Genesis to Revelation" by Genesis
"From Genesis to Revelation" was released in 1969 and when it was first released it didn't sell well and was usually placed in the religious section of the record shop, I'm sure there were some surprised listeners.
The Beatles, The Kinks, Joey Ramone, and David Bowie are also some of the artists that will have albums for sale you can see the complete list here http://www.recordstoreday.com/SpecialReleases
Do you remember the first album you purchased, the first physical album? The album you saved up for, the one you couldn't wait to listen to all the time.
I was seven years old when I bought my first album, "Middle of Nowhere" by Hanson and I'm surprised it didn't wear out. It was my very first and for about a year my only album. I listened to it constantly and now my family makes fun of me for it.
Anyway, I remember saving up to buy it and when I finally bought it I couldn't wait to drop it in the tray of my little boombox and press play, it was magical.
I can also remember my first record, I found it in my parent's record collection "Whipped Cream and Other Delights" by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. Subconsciously, I think it's one of the reasons why I love modeling, the album cover is so striking and I wanted to be the whipped cream lady. The music is good too.
This week the music post isn't about a certain band or artist but it's still music related. Lately almost every conversation I have has turned to a discussion about vinyl. Most of the time it's just me complaining that I can't find Bobby Darin records in the record shops or thrift stores and every time I am asked why I don't order them online. The main reason is I'm impatient when it comes to waiting but I really enjoy going to the record shop.
I didn't grow up with records. I grew up looking through my parent's record collection and listening to their curated music collection. I thought the records were neat, the large artful covers, the heft of the record and the ritual of putting it on the turntable and dropping the needle. I grew up with CDs and cassettes. I knew how much fun going to a music store to buy an album was and it's something I miss. It's always interesting to talk to other people about music, I've had a lot of interesting conversations in record stores.
Part of me loves digital media, I love my iPod like it was my child, but I miss that shopping experience of digging through the albums to find what you were looking for and chatting about music with the other customers and clerks. What I don't miss is carrying loads of CDs to play on my walkman whenever I wanted to go somewhere.
Record shops are a rarity now. When I was a child and in my early teenage years there were lots of places to by CDs and slowly they began disappearing. Most of the time new business don't move in and the building is abandoned.
Some of my records.
Thankfully it's still possible to have a great record shopping experience. In New Jersey (where I'm from) there are two great places that spring to mind, the Princeton Record Exchange in Princeton, NJ (surprise) and the chain of Tunes stores.
The Princeton Record Exchange (http://www.prex.com/) has a huge selection of top quality records and I owe most of my collection to them. They have the biggest vinyl selection, to my knowledge, in the state of New Jersey. There is a huge dollar section with quality records (not junk) and harder to find albums at reasonable prices.
Tunes ( http://www.tunesonline.net/) is a chain that has 6 locations, including 1 in Maryland. Like the Princeton Record Exchange they have a dollar section and reasonably priced harder to find titles
Of course there are always thrift shops, my local Goodwill is always packed with records, but I find that some thrift shops store records in a way that makes it difficult to look through them.
A small collection of my collection. Some of them have the Princeton Record Exchange sticker on them.
So, how many of you prefer purchasing your records from a record shop instead of ordering online?
Everyone knows at least one song by the Turtles, if you don't at least know "Happy Together" than you probably live under a rock
The best part of this video is Mark Volman dancing with his french horn.
The Turtles formed in 1965 and disbanded in 1970 although they still tour from time to time. They had a monster hit in 1967 with "Happy Together" and did not want to be tied to the bubblegum image so they released "Elenore" in 1968 to parody the song but it didn't really work. People loved the song and, for the most part, didn't get the joke.
It may have been a joke, but it's a catchy joke.
"Elenore" came from the album "The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands" where the band pretended to be 11 different groups with different musical styles.
The Turtles produced a lot of great tunes but one of my favorite things about them is they injected their humor into their work. One of the songs on "The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands" is titled "Food" and the lyrics are list of different foods and a recipe for pot brownies, so not only do you get a record with great tunes you get a recipe, what a value. When you watch videos of them performing you can obviously tell they're having a good time.
"She'd Rather Be With Me"
Their last big hit was "You Showed Me", it's hauntingly beautiful.
So, do you have a favorite Turtles tune or any Turtles trivia to share?
I have a guest blogger today for the weekly music post! My very talented and Debbie Harry look alike (she really is) friend Raine Laurent did an astounding with her post on 60s music. -Megan ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The great problem of the 1960s is that we approach them culturally rather than historically. We think hippies, we think woodstock, we think acid and orgies. The problem is that we're defining an entire decade by a stretch that really took off around 1967 with the Monterey Pop Festival (the real beginning of the so-called Summer of Love) and had a three or four year run before succumbing to the disillusionment and decadence of the early seventies, with the assasination of Martin Luther King and the Altamont Speedway Fiasco as grim bookends.
So then we wind up with more than half a decade to deal with. Most of us tend to just file the first half of the sixties in with the fifties, and assume that the whole world was Leave it to Beaver until LSD25 and Jimi Hendrix showed up to wake up young America. This is entirely false. The early sixties were still a different economy, a different culture, a different generation than the fifties. And along with all the other differences, it had a different record buying market and a different music industry to supply it.
The biggest shift to account for is that with the baby boom, the early sixties presented the first time that the primary consumers of records were teenagers and not adults. This is a shift that defines the music market to this day. Rock and roll was a more inclusive term between 1960 and 1964 - it included girl groups, surf rock, guitar bands, and retroactively encompassed the proto-rockers like Elvis, Chuck Berry, and the all-father himself, Little Richard. Rock and roll was the entire AM radio spectrum and the entire teenage world. What we're dealing with today is the "Hairspray" 60s, not the "Woodstock" 60s.
So knowing this, it's one of the great tragedies of pop music history that we tend to just classify the post-rockabilly, pre-British invasion years as some kind of lull. This fallacy is an accident, and an unfortunate one. Coming from our contemporary perspective, we tend to ony envision rock and roll as existing in the "rock band" paradigm - a self contained unit, usually built of an egomaniacal singer/lyricist and his crew of guitarists with excellent hair. To a teenager in 1963, rock and roll meant everything with a beat - that could be the Beach Boys or it could be the Chiffons.
And this music, along with the early rock frenzy of the aforementioned Elvis and Little Richard, is what informed the top notch songwriting of the Beatles and their British contemporaries. Let's just dispense with the ridiculous myth that rock and roll as we know it is built on the blues. Rock and roll as we know it is built on the RHYTHMS of the blues, which Buddy Holly adopted to add some oomph to much more traditional, old-fashioned pop song melodies.
Holly, probably the most important of the early rock progenitors, set the seedbed for clever poprock songwriting, guitar bands and instrumental novelties like the Tornadoes and the Ventures set the tones and techniques, and the girl groups and teen pop idols supplied the melodies and harmonic structure. Listen to the Beatles' entire early discography - those harmonies are pure brill building bubblegum, and half the songs are well-chosen covers from gems like the Shirelles and the Donays.
*Buddy Holly, It Doesn't matter anymore
* The Tornadoes, Telestar
DANCE DANCE DANCE
The real heroes of the early sixties pop world weren't rock bands or singers - they were writers, publishers, and producers. One of the many factors accounting for the abundant creativity in early 60s pop is the flexibility this model provided. Your singer isn't right for the song? You've got a whole stable of 'em. Wrote a song for a boy and the artist's record company doesn't have access to your publisher? Rewrite it for a girl. Hit factories like the Brill Building in New York and the now-mythical Motown weren't tied up with images or principles - they wanted hits, and so they relentlessly persued this goal by experimenting with every new trend and style as it came up.
Records were much bigger than performances in the early sixties, with teenage social life revolving much more around record hops than concerts. Consequently a lot of records were churned out with an unpretentious emphasis on danceability. Songwriters rushed to churn out catchy chord progressions in which they'd couch any outlandish ambulatory instruction that came to mind, all in hopes of birthing the next dance craze. Some of these were more successful than others but all got the job done and got the party moving. More obvious gems like The Mashed Potato (one of the few major records to come out of Philadelphia, which was generally overshadowed by the New York and Detroit music machines) and Shake a Tail Feather buried some really fantastic and sometimes bizarre novelties; some of them with interesting stories behind them. Novelties like The Monster Mash, of course, fall into this framework.Little Eva's well-known locomotion was crafted by songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King (more on them later) after seeing Bobby Darin's show at the Copa in early 1965. Supposedly husband/lyricist Gerry was intrigued by one particular song arrangement, and was told by wife/composer Carole that the sound that he was finding so mystifying was open fifths on saxophones - what we would now refer to as a power chord. Gerry was determined to turn out a hit using those chunky, blaring chords, and Carole crafted the music. They gave it to their babysitter and sometimes-demo-singer Eva Boyd (Little Eva) and the rest was history. Candy and the Kisses' "The 81" was a classic example of early 60s producers desperately trying to emulate the Motown sound in a bid to compete with Gordy's giant - in fact the backing track was a bit too similar to "In My Lonely Room", a smash that Holland-Dozier-Holland had concocted for Martha & The Vandellas, and Motown successfully sued.
There was no lawsuit surrounding the bizzarre "Peanut Duck", the bass riff of which would be nicked more than a decade lader by Punk Band Penetration for their "Don't Dictate". This is not the first or last time that 70s punk would be built on the foundation of 60s pop.
*Peanut Duck, Marsha Gee
*Don't Dictate, Penetration
*81, Candy and the Kisses
LITTLE SYMPHONIES FOR THE KIDDIES
If you poke around a lot of new indie rock, you've probably heard somebody use the term "Wall of Sound" at least a few thousand times, always careful not to damage your cred by admititng you had NO FUCKING CLUE WHAT IT MEANT. Well, mystery solved.
Before Phil Spector worked with the Ramones and then proved himself the most punk-rock producer of all by shooting a guy in the back, he was the enfante terrible of pop music. He designed his records to sound richer, fuller, more lush and delicious than anything else blaring out of a transistor radio. You really need mono sound to appreciate the effect.
The wall of sound revolves around gratuitous doubling - thickening a note by having two instruments play the same note in tandem. This is a common trick in jazz - popular unison voicings include having flutes and brass play the same note to blend the whispy, ethereal quality of reeds with the warm thickness of a trumpet or saax. Guitar and vibraphone together produce that bell-like, corny, "cocktail jazz" sound.
Well, Spector took the principle and amped it up full of PCP. Song had a guitar line? Well then it was going to take half a dozen guys all playing THE EXACT SAME THING, creating an incredible richness of sound. Four pianos, a pair of drum kits. Everything was doubled gratuitously by Phil and his regular session musicians (The Wrecking Crew, which included legendary drummer Hal Blaine and rare female guitar hero, Carol Kaye) resulting in the rush of teenage romanticism you can only get from the Ronettes, the Crystals, and other Spector specialties.
Spector owned the rights to the names of all the groups he produced, so his discography can be a labyrinth. The Crystals had three different lead singers, and some singles credited to them (He's Sure The Boy I Love, He's A Rebel) are actually backing vocalists The Blossoms.
Genius/Beach Boy/Nutjob Brian Wilson proclaimed Spector's production "Be My Baby" (Ronettes, 1964) to be "The most perfect pop song in existence". The song features all the rich doubling of pianos and brass, and of course a veritable choir of compressed backing vocals - supplied by Spector's go-to session singers, The Blossoms, Composer Ellie Greenwich, Spector protege/fanboy Sonny Bono, and his young wife Cherilyn Sarkasian. Another Ronettes perennial, "Baby I Love You", would be sumptiously covered by the Ramones on their "End of the Century", where the debt of punk rock to early sixties pop reached its apotheosis when the most famous punks of all were produced by Spector himself
More on "Be My Baby" - you've probably heard that distinctive drum tag on the song's opening quoted and imitated endlessly, or maybe even called the "Be My Baby" beat. What you're actually hearing is a cuban phenomena called the "Baion" beat. It's a standard 4/4, but having the emphasis on the ONE (two three) and the FOUR. The straight drumming of many of the British Invasion groups that so many Americans called the "Merseybeat" was nothing really new or distinctive - it was just that by the early sixties, Afro-Carribean rhythms had been so thoroughly integrated into American pop that we were stunned by something so, well, white! Other prominent examples of songs built around the Baione beat include Stand By Me (Leiber & Stoller for Ben E. King) and This Magic Moment, written by 30s-blues-singer-turned-60s-teen-pop-composer Doc Pomus and his teenage protege Mort Schuman, performed by The Drifters and by Jay and the Americans.
*Be My Baby, Ronettes
*Baby I Love You, The Ramones
LOCAL COLOR
One of the most rich and rewarding aspects of exploring the music of the early sixties is that the industry was so decentralized. Several major centers dominated the scene, all of them readily distinguishable. The lyrically naive and musically sophisticated teen pop of the New York Brill Building. The infectious Motown beat out of Detroit, which can be distinguished to this day by its eternal upbeat, every-note-accented-just-like-this. The slick, string-heavy records of Cameo-Parkway in Philadelphia presage the sparkling sheen of early disco. Record companies would compete with eachother and interact in interesting ways in the early 60s. Chess records, a company that specialized in more raw R&B and blues, which by the sixties were dated and somewhat passe to the teen audience, fell behind the other major music centers early in the sixties. "Rescue Me", by Fontella Bass, is often misattributed as a Motown single - the production was clearly trying to ape the Motown trademark. Listen to that bass chugging along.
Philly Pop Singer Bunny Sigler did a little known by lovely cover of the Shirelles "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", which trades the warm New York drums and guitars for bright piano and heavy string usage. The song has a common chord progression, and Sigler's recording of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" actually uses the same backing track as Len Barry's familiar "One, Two Three (It's Elementary)"! Each region produced at least one luminary writing and producing team. New York had Phil Spector of course, but also Bobs Gaudio & Crewe (mostly known for great Four Seasons Hits like Ronnie and Dawn, their ear for rich harmonies and and a bright orchestral palette yielded some beautiful results for later Lesley Gore sessions), and Quincey Jones made a killing producing Teen Idol Lesley Gore. This was probably the first really prominent use of "double tracking", where Jones would "fatten" Gore's sound, by having her record the exact same vocal twice - it's not a harmony, but because sound waves are unique, each track has slight, almost imperceptible variations that combine to make a thicker, richer vocal track.
*Bunny Sigler, WIll You Love Me Tomorrow *Four Seasons, Ronnie *Lesley Gore, Treat Me Like A Lady
New York's Brill building also produced some of the most interesting songwriting teams of the era. The famous Burt Bacharach & Hal David duo, who produced songs known for their complex melodies and quirky rhythm shifts, Goffin and King, who could turn on a dime from writing teen pop for Bobby Vee (Go Away Little Girl), girl-group smashes (One Fine Day, The Chiffons, on which King played piano), or smooth Uptown Soul (Natural Woman for Aretha Franklin, So Much Love for Ben E. King). Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich specialized in supplying hits for girl groups like the Dixie Cups, Ronettes, and Shangri Las. Barry Mann and wife Cynthia Weil were some of the earliest to politicize pop music, with Mann's candy-sweet melodies supporting Weil's social commentaries on race and economic class (UpTown for the Crystals, We've Got To Get Out Of the Place for the Animals), Disillusionment with the American Dream (Magic Town, The Vogues) and Drug Addiction (Kicks, Paul Revere and the Raiders). Doc Pomus, a veteran blues singer in his youth, turned to writing teen pop with Mort Schuman, young enough to be his grandson.
The intergenerational duo cranke dout hits for Elvis (Marie's the name), and the standard "Save The Last Dance For Me" is more poignant when you know that Pomus was paralyzed, and wrote the lyric for his wife.*So Much Love, Ben E. King (Goffin/King) *Every Boy And Every Girl, The Chiffons (Barry/greenwich) *Make it easy on yourself, Dionne warwick (Bacharach/David) *Kicks, Paul revere and the raiders (Mann/Weil) *Save the last dance, The Drifters (Pomus/SChuman)
MOVIES FOR THE EARS
The early 60s were a less jaded time, and before music videos existed, songs had the freedom and the impetus to take a cinematic approach. Sound effects, narration, and other tricks were used to create a strong narrative - to create a sonic world and draw the listener into it. The Shangri Las most famously monopolized the approach and did it beautifully, mostly with the help of top-notch songsmiths Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich and always with erratic producer Shadow Morton on board. Songs like "Leader Of the Pack" and "I Can Never Go Home Anymore" painted vivid and soap-operatic portraits of teenage tragedy that were a treat then for the teenage heart, and are still deeply effective on the ear. The Shangri Las were the zenith of the phenomena known as the "Death Disk" (melodramatic pop records where the protagonists were iced by the end of the track), but other incidences were abundant.
The niche took off with Rey Petersen's hit "Tell Laura I Love Her", in which a boy frustrated by love proceeds to die in a drag race. In the UK, teen-pop phenom Twinkle, who came off something like a psychopathic Twiggy on record, was censured for her single "Terry" which made allusions to pre-marital sex and adultery. Sylvan's "We Don't Belong", a lush, symphonic pop single, was likewise banned for its overt tale of romantic suicide - the record was probably deeply influential on later generations of goth rockers. The lingering legacy of oldies like "Last Kiss" and "Teen Angel" only reinforce the eerie association of love and death, which must have been a thousand times more intense to a generation that had just had their sexuality sparked by Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe.
Maybe the most fascinating "sound plays" of 60s pop are the Shangri Las own "Past, Present, and Future" in which Mary Weiss narrates a story-probably-about-rape-trauma over an arrangement of Moonlight Sonata for electric guitar, piano, and strings, and "Nightmare" by the Whyte Boots. The latter is a great little do-it-yourself record, consisting mostly of just piano and drums, the "group" in all probability being just songwriters Pam Sawyer and Lori Burton overdubbed a couple times.
The record was publicized with real wanted posters and fake news articles, miming actual police blips indicating that the events in the song (a schoolyard brawl gone fatal) were factual, and even hinting that the non-existant members of the whyte boots were wanted for murder, and somehow found time to record a sleeper hit while on the lam.
*I Can never go home anymore, the Shangri Las
*We Don't Belong, Sylvan *Last Kiss, J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers *Nightmare, The whyte boots
FUN FACTS ABOUT GIRL GROUPS
The biggest boom in the pop music industry before the British invasion were girl groups. The harmonies, the adolescent heartbeat. Teenage romanticism at its finest. What makes this such a popular niche for music collectors is the astounding diversity of the field. Girl groups of the time were pretty much disposable - they were there to perform the songs that the writers gave them and the producers brought to life. This meant that great songwriters could try out different musical approaches on any given group, creating a huge breadth of styles.
The girl group bonanza began with Gerry Goffin and Carole King's "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" for the Shirelles, the lyrics of which were probably poignant for the couple who got married in college when Carole became pregnant. When the record hit number one,the race was on. Perhaps the songwriting/producing team most associated with the girl group boom were Phil Spector favorites Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. Ellie, ever stage-frightened, could probably have become a pop star in her own right. You can hear her adding vocal fills (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!) at the end of "Chapel of Love", which the duo penned for the Dixie cups, and she does beautiful vocal work on her own debut single, produced by Shadow Morton, with whom she had frequently collaborated on material for the Shangri Las.
Motown had their own girl groups. Early star Mary Wells was shelved and groups like the Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas, and the No-Hit-Supremes (who had originally sung backup on Kim Weston's original version of "Stop In the Name of Love") were rushed to the forefront.
Beach Boy Brian Wilson had his own pet girl group, The Honeys, fronted by his wife Marilyn. The productions bear the inimitable beach boys stamp, but also owe more than a little to Wilson's idol, Phil Spector.
Fellow Spector-worshipper Sonny Bono, in a bid to emulate the Spector sound on a much lower budget, tried out a facsimile on his young Wife. This DIY approach must be admirable to garage-rockers even today.
As the marketplace of the later 60s geared more toward psychedelia and gimmick than plain ol' pop music, producers tried to keep up with the trends, with sometimes amusing results. Fairly innocuous popsters Reparata & The Delrons (Whenever a Teenager Cries, I'm Nobody's Baby Now) took a stab at psychedelia with their wonderful chestnut, "Saturday Night Didn't Happen".
*Ellie Greenwich, You Don't Know *The Honeys, He's a Doll *Kim Weston, Stop In The Name Of Love *Cher, Dream Baby *Reperata and the delrons, saturday night didn't happen
Today I was in an ABBA mood so I chose to write about their music and specifically the style of Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. I became an ABBA fan in 2000 when I was 10 years old and in the fifth grade. Not only was I a fan of their music but I was extremely fond of how the women of the group dressed and their intoxicating beauty. I immersed myself in 70s style and my mother even feathered my hair each day before I went to school. Their music was very refreshing to me since the popular culture of the time was drenched in late 90s pop music made for teens and in turn that was all my peers could talk about, while I was looking for something more. Don't get me wrong, I was and still am a fan of 90s pop but as a 10 year old and now I was always looking for something more. What luck that the A*Teens released their album "The ABBA Generation" at the same time I was searching musically!
How many of you remember this?
As much as the A*Teens put their own spin on ABBA's music I'm happy they put out this album since if they didn't I would never appreciate the pure pop perfection that is ABBA. I have read hat Frida ( Anni-Frid) after hearing the demo of "Dancing Queen" wept since it was so beautiful. As a child I fell in love with their music and also with the fashion of their leading ladies.
One of my favorite looks for Frida and Agnetha, mini dresses and tall white boots!
Look at these women! They are a vision in white
My favorite is Agnetha's white dress but Anni-Frid's print dress and boots are breathtaking as well. Anni-Frid demonstrates a perfect winter to spring transition outfit in this photo.
My first introduction to ABBA was through an A*Teens album, after that I purchased a copy of "ABBA Gold" and became a lifelong ABBA fan. The appreciation of their music came first and a love the their style came after and both have stuck.
It's another Tuesday music post and this weeks post focuses on dance crazes of the 60s. There were so many great dances that originated in the 60s and I wish some of them would come back, I bet dances were much more fun. Let's start with a great one.
The Twist
I am really bad at learning dances but even I can do the twist. It's like a little workout and it's fun to do. Can you believe that at one time this was considered a provocative dance?
The Watusi
This is such a catchy song! The watusi became one of the most popular dances among teens and the surfer/beach crowd. Even Batman got in on the action with the Batusi.
The Jerk
You can also dance The Jerk to the song Cool Jerk by the Capitols.
These are only a small selection of 60s dances, there were many more and some dances changed based on the region where you lived. Does anyone have a favorite 60s dance?
I was never a fan of Valentine's day really. I'm not one of those bitter single types that wishes the worst for every loving couple they see nor have I ever been a saucer eyed romantic type. Really, I'm just excited for the candy. I do enjoy celebrating love on Valentine's day, Jeremy proposed to me in 2010 on February 14th, but I've never bought in to the whole idea that Valentine's day has to be over the top.
As Frank Sinatra once sang, "Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage". Your valentine might already be your spouse or your soon to be spouse. Why not read this informative article from Collectors Weekly (http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/how-romance-wrecked-traditional-marriage/) all about "traditional" marriage. The history of marriage is very fascinating , it wasn't always about marrying the person you loved it was a business transaction and the entire institution was extremely misogynistic. I'm not trying to bring anyone down, I'm just realistic.
I am a homebody and while I like to go out to a nice restaurant to celebrate Valentine's Day, I also like to celebrate at home. Another article from Collectors Weekly (http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/vintage-romance-valentine’s-day-at-home/) gives some great ideas for couples to have a blast in their own home. One of my favorite things to do while spending a special occasion at home is dress up. Dressing up really does make all the difference on a special day at home, sweat pants do not a special occasion make. We're opting to have a Valentine's party at home on the 15th so Mommom can be with us. Every great party must have food and music, so here are some snack and music ideas for your valentines celebration, however you like to celebrate the holiday. Let's start with music.
I like songs that celebrate the entire spectrum of love, not just the highs. I will always be this way even though I'm satisfied with my love life now. That being said, none of these songs are overly shmaltzy.
For those of you that have been scorned one too many times here is a great Bobby Darin tune. For being so cynical it has such a jazzy beat.
Down with Love-Bobby Darin
For the odd couple, this Peter Sellers as Dr. Strangelove cover of "She Loves You" is the perfect thing to play for your valentine.
Who can resist the charms of Peter Sellers.
For the loving couple, why not listen to "Lovers Rock" by The Clash from their fantastic album London Calling.
The last and most beautiful love song from the 20th century is "Something" by The Beatles
For our little celebration, we have decided to have a popcorn bar. It was an idea that I found on Pinterest. You can have a big bowl of air popped popcorn and little bowls of add ins like m&m's, parmesan cheese, peanuts, rasins or whatever else you could think up.
So, what do you all have planned for Valentine's day? Do you have any special traditions?
I hope you've all been enjoying February so far! I've been trying to branch out more and get out of my comfort zone, it was one of my goals for the new year.
I found out about the website "Thrift Store Runway" when I went on the thrift crawl last month. There are some great articles all about thrifting but the highlight of the site is the outfit contest. Each month you can submit a photo of yourself in an outfit that is made from thrifted pieces following a $50 budget. Four winners are selected each month and they receive a cash prize. I submitted my outfit photo last night.
I got this awesome mini dress at the Glassboro Goodwill Thursday. I believe it's from the late 60s or the early to mid 70s.
Yesterday, my Mommom took my sister and I to the Vineland Public Library to see the Beatles exhibit that will be there all month. It's completely free to go and view the exhibit and every Beatles fan in Vineland, NJ should go see it. For more information visit: http://www.vinelandlibrary.org/pr/February_2014_Beatles_Display.htm
I had to take these shots with my phone so they're not so great. The wire art didn't show up so well.
The exhibit celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. I love that their music is still celebrated today. When I was a teenager I was obsessed with the Beatles and now my sister is too, she is currently borrowing all of my Beatles records.
Can you imagine how exciting it must have been to see this when it aired! Music has the power to change lives and The Beatles performances on the Ed Sullivan show changed a lot of lives. Tomorrow, CBS will air a special to celebrate The Beatles. For more information visit: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-news-marking-beatles-anniversary-with-live-multimedia-event/
It bothers me that The Carpenters get dismissed as a soft white bread type band without a thought. These people are really missing out on the beautiful voice and drumming talents of Karen Carpenter.
Karen Carpenter died 31 years ago today from heart failure due to her struggle with anorexia. When I was little my mother had "The Karen Carpenter Story" with Cynthia Gibb taped and saved it in a box where she kept all the movies that she had taped off the television. I watched this movie more times than was probably healthy but it did get me interested in The Carpenters at the age of four. I wanted to play the drums and the piano but my parents enrolled me in piano lessons and I didn't start playing drums until I was 13.
People tend to forget that Karen was an amazing drummer especially during a time when it wasn't seen as the womanly thing to do to play drums.
Jumping from instrument to instrument, amazing!
Not only could she play the drums but she could sing beautifully as well. I dare you to listen to her sing and not be moved, you won't be able to.
"A Song for You"
I encourage all of you, especially if you are in that group of people that think The Carpenters are soft muzak, to explore their music. There are too many people that dismiss this great band. Disturbingly there are also a lot of people that regard Karen Carpenter's death with great disdain as if her illness ,which is something easy to trap yourself in, negates her immense talent and the impact she left on the world. So, go put your favorite Carpenters album on and remember this amazing woman.
It's Tuesday and you all know what that means, music post! I know you've been looking forward to this since last week.
I have a lot of music on my iPod. If I put it on shuffle then I am forever clicking away until I find something I want to hear, so I decided to make playlists. I have a playlist for moods that I frequently experience, decade playlists, and playlists to get me in a mood. I want to share my motivational playlist with you.
I am constantly adding to a playlist I call, "I'm not down". The list got its name from the Clash song and it's a list of songs that make me feel confident and motivated. I listen to these songs in the morning on my way to school or whenever I feel small. I'm not going to give you the full list because it would take an awfully long time, so here are some highlights.
I'm Not Down-The Clash
I might as well begin the list with the song that gave the list its name. This song makes me feel that no matter what happens in my day I will be okay. That's the reassurance I often need.
As Long As I'm Singing-Bobby Darin
"As long as I'm singing, then the world's alright and everything is swinging". Bobby Darin wrote this song and it's just so up beat and jazzy. Every time I hear this it makes me feel like everything is okay just keep going.
I'm Still Here-Yvonne DeCarlo
I bet you didn't know Lilly Munster could sing! This triumphant tune is from the musical 'Follies'. Clearly the woman in the song has been through a lot of tough times but she's celebrating the fact that she's still kicking.
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life-Monty Python
My final selection for everyone is a song that never fails to make me smile. I can be having the absolute worst day and 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' will make it so much better. This may sound odd to some people but this song really puts life into perspective. If you think you have it bad now then remember that one day you're going to die. It makes your problems seem so small and it reminds you to laugh and find the humor in life.
Well I hope you liked the songs I listed. Maybe you have been a fan of them for years or maybe you discovered a few new tunes. Does anyone else organize their music into playlists? If so what themes do you have?
I had intended to post this yesterday but these little kittens are a full time job. They're really starting to explore the house which is scary for me since they're so tiny. They are getting along with Ginger and Tigger though. Felix snuggled with Ginger at naptime yesterday and both of the kittens seem to regard Tigger as their king. So this is going to be a quick post, sorry.
Alright, now on to the music. Today our focus is The Clash. How many of you thought this was going to be another Bobby Darin post?
I have been a Clash fan since I was 12 years old and they've had such an impact on my life. I remember my dad put on the London Calling album one night and that was it, I was hooked. I had the desire to learn the drum at 13 because I idolized (still do) Topper Headon. Do not get me started on the man because I will not stop, there are so many great things to be said about him. Their songs make you think and now I am a more critical listener, not just with music but in conversation too.
Now, if you've never heard any music by The Clash then you simply must. I'll give you some direction. If you want the most bang for your buck then I would go with either London Calling or Sandinista, the former a double album and the latter a triple. The great thing about Sandinsita is there's all different genres of music on it and they're all done well. That's another great thing about The Clash, the versatility!
Here's a Tuesday music post for you. I'm thinking of making this a regular Tuesday thing.
When most people think of Bobby Darin's music they automatically think of his hits, Mack the Knife, Beyond the Sea and Splish Splash. These people are seriously missing out as there are so many songs that people don't even know about! Now, this is all from my perspective based on my experiences and observations. I was born in 1990 and sadly wasn't around when Mr. Darin was alive and all of my knowledge comes from books I've read and interviews I've watched. The following are all songs that I think should be wildly popular but aren't.
Average People from the album Bobby Darin (1972)
This is from his penultimate album and sadly a lot of the albums from midway to the end of his career are largely ignored by the general public and they're missing a lot of great music. This particular song illustrates how couples drift apart. The first verse alone paints a picture many couples can relate to
I sit before the TV screen
Silently starin' into space
While you re-read your magazines
And the bottom is painted
All over our faces.
"Average People" isa beautifully written song about such a sad subject. It's thought provoking in a way that may make you think about your own relationship. The song also describes how a relationship can change after marriage.
Let It Be Me from the album Bobby Darin (1972)
This is a cover and all of the versions I've heard before this one were so white bread. His voice is so entrancing in this song and it has so much soul. Jeremy and I plan to use this song when we get married.
My Baby Needs Me from the album Inside Out and Songs from Big Sur
I couldn't find a video of this one but "Songs from Big Sur" is on iTunes and you can listen to this song there. If you haven't heard it you are missing out, it is good! It could be something from Motown and it just makes you feel so good despite the fact that the relationship depicted in the song might not be the healthiest.
Questions from the album Born Walden Robert Cassotto
I like that a lot of materiel from later in his career was very thought provoking and musically beautiful. This song asks many "questions" about environmental issues while still being a very catchy tune.
Happy from the album Darin 1936-1973
From what I've read, this is the last song that Bobby Darin recorded. He was very ill at the time and I can sense something in his voice. He sang this song beautifully, like I said before the man could emote!
Route 58 from the album Songs from Big Sur
I couldn't find a video of this song either but it is on iTunes so go and listen now! The lyrics are fantastic and it's a great song to drive to.
Now there is so much more I could have listed here but I'm hoping that if you like the songs then you'll explore on your own. I really don't understand why a lot of these songs aren't mega hits or at the least more widely recognized by people who aren't hardcore fans. I think it's great when a band or an artist explores a lot of musical genres (and does it well) and that's why I mainly listen to Bobby Darin and The Clash (my next topic for a music post). I do listen to a lot of other things but I like that I have two "one stop shops" for music so to speak.
