Back in August, I finally figured out a way to grab music from my broken iPod. When I finally transferred the music folders to my hard drive, the real work began.
I had about 50 folders of music, each containing about 100 or so songs. The problem is that not all of the songs were in a format I could play anywhere but the iPod. So I had to find a program where I could convert the songs in the Apple format to MP3. That wasn’t the issue. Actually, there were a couple issues.
First, there was no way to convert multiple tracks at one time. Each song had to be converted one at a time. The other issue was that when you put a song on your iPod, it changed the name. Example: She Loves You by The Beatles becomes ZQTD in the folder. When played in the car, the Title is correct, the artist is correct and the four letter new name is nowhere to be found.
Every song that I convert or transfer has to be renamed it’s original name. So ZQTD now needs to be renamed and saved as She Loves You. To say that the whole process is tedious is an understatement. We’re almost through February and I have just two folders left. The end is in sight.
Once I get all the songs converted, I have to go through the ones that transferred over that I cannot convert. These are mostly songs I purchased from iTunes. I think the count was 273 songs that I cannot convert. That list is one I will go through next. Some of the songs I have other places, and I can replace them quickly. The other’s I will have to look at the used CD place, or go through my CDs to see if I have them.
The reason it is taking so long is that I am doing this while on lunch at work. I can’t really find time anywhere else during the day. As I go song by song, I am finding songs that I can sort to other folders: Christmas, Christian, Classical and Songs I am not sure I still want. I can put all the Christmas, Christian, and Classical on separate thumb drives. The other folder, I will go through again for a final sort.
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.
In 1999, I turned 29 years old. In September of that year, I would venture into a marriage that would fail years later. Two great sons came out of it though, and that was a great thing.
1999 was also the year that I began receiving monthly CDs with new music on them. It was a great was to always be sure to have clean edits of songs and be current. I received my first CD in May of that year and thankfully so!
I had been hired to DJ a prom. It was the first one I had ever done. I had been able to scrounge up some of the “newer” songs thanks to friends. However, a lot of the brand new stuff not in stores yet. (This is probably before I got my iPod and iTunes). Two days before the prom, that CD had the hottest song on the radio at the time. The song was Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca.
That night, I had requests for it and was surprised (and thankful) it was on the CD! I played it at least three times that night and knew my investment was a good one. Those CDs saved me plenty of times.
Frank Sinatra died on May 14, 1998, which was around the time this song was conceived. Co-writer Desmond Child told Songfacts that Sinatra’s music was a strong influence on this song. He said, “Frank Sinatra’s music was coming out of the airwaves, and we were all of a sudden into this Rat Pack idea, and also the Latin Elvis concept that we had for him. So we put that into the songs, as well – there was a swing aspect to it. So the verses were more like that, and then the choruses were all out rock anthems, with horns. Because horns had fallen out of favor, we brought horns back.”
Paul McCartney’s guitarist, Rusty Anderson, played on the song. Co-writer Robi Rosa asked him to put some guitar on some sections that were blank slates. He remembers: “I was thinking more of a James Bond vibe actually. But I kinda liked the way it counter-balanced the song.”
Anderson recorded his guitar work at his studio intending it to just be a demo. “I didn’t have a reverb to print that I was happy with so I figured the mixer would have the perfect reverb in mixdown,” he explained. “That recording turned into the single. When I heard it on the radio, I was shocked that they left it dry!”
Many years later, the song re-entered my life when I took my son to the movies. In Shrek 2, Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) and Donkey (Eddie Murphy) sing it as the credits roll.
Livin’ La Vida Loca
Next is a song that I always felt should have been a bigger hit. I Know How The River Feels was a song that was recorded first by country singer Ty Herndon in 1996. His version was never released. Diamond Rio recorded it for their Unbelievable album and it was their third single from it.
I liked it because it gave Diamond Rio a different sound. This was the first song of theirs to feature outside instruments as they added a string section to the arrangement. The song, however, was met with some negative reviews from critics. It only went to #33 on the Country charts.
I love the way the song uses a river with its twists and turns to describe the search for love. Finally, when it reaches the sea – the search, the twists, and the turns – you reach the final destination.
Now I know how the river feels When it reaches the sea And finally finds the place It was always meant to be Holding fast, home at last Knowing the journey’s through Lying here with you I know how the river feels
I Know How The River Feels
Hey Leonardo by Blessid Union of Souls is a song that I liked for a few reasons. First, the parenthetical title is “She likes me for me.” Isn’t that what love is about? It’s not about the physical things, the status and such. It is about loving a person because they are that person. Next, I like when a song tosses in some pop culture references.
Songfacts says: This song is written in the form of a letter to someone named Leonardo – a reference to actor Leonardo DiCaprio. In the song, the singer lists many celebrities and the qualities they possess making them attractive to women. He emphasizes that while he does not have the same qualities, his girlfriend loves him just the way he is.
The celebrities that are referenced include: Tyson Beckford, Robert Redford, Steve Buscemi and the movie Fargo. It also references opera singer Pavarotti, model Cindy Crawford, Clint Eastwood’s characterization of Dirty Harry, and Jim Carrey in the movie The Cable Guy.
Hey Leonardo
For the longest time I had only ever heard the clean edit of the next song. When I downloaded “Why Don’t You Get a Job” by the Offspring, it was the album version. It certainly was not edited. As I think of the words that are edited from it, I chuckle. They seem tame compared to what words are allowed on the radio today.
Offspring’s Americana album was a concept album. It examined the unpleasant side of life in America. Songfacts says, The song fits the concept by examining how so many people get by in the country without being productive and contributing to society.
If you listen closely, the melody might sound familiar. That is because it is based on The Beatles song “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” with some elements of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cecilia.”
Why Don’t You Get A Job
I’ve told this story before. When the Dixie Chicks first hit the radio, I did not think they would last. I felt that they had too much of a traditional sound and that listeners would not like it. I was wrong and I am glad that they went on to have radio success.
Their album Wide Open Spaces was full of hits. I came to really love the harmonies of the Dixie Chicks, especially on the last single from the album.
The Chicks’ version of “Tonight the Heartache’s on Me” was released in April of 1999. It had been recorded in 1994 by singer/songwriter Joy Lynn White, whose version was much slower. The Chicks version has a tempo and attitude that conveys all the feelings of the lyrics.
I love the play on words in the title. “The next round’s on me” is something you might hear in bars all over the country. The story of the song takes place in a bar. A gal sees her ex walk in with another woman and “Boom” – the hurt is there. “Bartender, pour the wine, ’cause the hurtin’s all mine. Tonight, the heartache’s on me!”
The song is a guilty pleasure, I suppose.
Tonight The Heartache’s On Me
I hate to say that Sheryl Crow is a cover artist, because she is not. However, her cover songs are really good! Take for example, her cover of 1987’s Sweet Child ‘O Mine.
It was originally done, of course, by Guns N’ Roses. The lyrics came from a poem Axl Rose was working on. Songfacts says that “he wrote the song about his girlfriend, Erin Everly, the daughter of Don Everly of the Everly Brothers. After dating for four years, they got married at a quickie wedding in Las Vegas on April 28, 1990, but just nine months later, the marriage was annulled, with Everly claiming abuse.“
The Sheryl Crow version appeared in the Adam Sandler movie Big Daddy. It earned her the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 2000. Her version appears near the middle of the movie right after they take the kid away. The Guns N’ Roses original is also played in the movie (at the end with the credits.)
I think her voice compliments this song very well. Her voice is much better than some of the folks who attempted to sing this when I hosted karaoke!
Sweet Child O’ Mine
The aforementioned green ogre, Shrek, ties in with my next song. I think this is the one that most people associate with the Shrek films. I’m talking, of course, about All Star by Smash Mouth.
Like most Smash Mouth originals, it was written by their guitarist, Greg Camp. He said in a Songfacts interview:
“When we were on tour for the first record, it’s still when people were writing fan mail, like, in the form of paper and pencils and typewriters and stuff,” said Camp. “We would get these big bags of fan mail and we would take them to the Laundromat and do our laundry and read all this mail while we were sitting around waiting for our clothes to get dry. And about 85-90 percent of the mail was from these kids who were being bullied or their brothers or older siblings were giving them s–t for liking Smash Mouth or liking whatever they’re doing or the way they dressed and stuff. So we were, like, ‘We should write a song for fans.’
Before I stopped DJing a couple years ago, this song was still being requested at high school dances.
All Star
It is always great to see an artist from the past make a come back. 1999 was a great year for Carlos Santana!
Most music people are aware of Clive Davis. He is a legendary record executive who has worked with many artists and even appeared on American Idol. He was the mastermind behind Santana’s Supernatural album.
Santana hadn’t had a hit since “Hold On” in 1982, so Davis teamed him with contemporary musicians like Wyclef Jean, Everlast and Lauryn Hill to make sure the younger generation took notice. The result was a wildly successful album that went over well with Santana’s old fans and created a legion of new ones. “Smooth” was the first single; it spent 12 weeks at #1 in the US.
Rob Thomas sang lead on “Smooth,” but that wasn’t the plan. He had never written a song for someone else before, so he jumped at the chance to write a song for Santana. When he finished it, Thomas suggested George Michael, one of his musical heroes, as the vocalist. Arista Records ended up asking Thomas to do the vocals, and when he did, it was in Michael’s style. “If you listen to the melody and the cadence, it’s an attempt to emulate his style in so many ways,” Rob said.
Smooth” won Song Of The Year and Record Of The Year at the 2000 Grammy Awards. Supernatural also won for Best Rock Album and Album Of The Year. Santana picked up a total of eight awards that night.
Fun fact: Santana has the distinction of waiting the longest between his first charting single and first #1 hit. In 1969, “Tango” hit #56 in the US, and 30 years later, “Smooth” was #1.
Smooth
The next song was probably THE ear worm of 1999. It was certainly one of those songs that got into your head. Believe it or not, Lou Bega’s “Mambo No 5” was a cover song! The song was originally done in 1952 by the Cuban-Mexican bandleader Perez Prado. Known as the “King of the Mambo,” Prado recorded numerous mambos. When he ran out of inspiration, he would simply number them. “Mambo No 5” was one of a series of eight.
The difference between the two versions? Perez Prado’s version was instrumental. In 1999, Lou Bega added lyrics to it. By doing so, he transformed it into a love song for several women. Those women: Angela, Pamela, Sandra, Rita, Monica, Erica, Tina, Mary and Jessica. It was reported that the girls he mentioned were all Lou’s former girlfriends. It is probably beyond coincidence that eight of the girls in the song have names that end in “A,” making them quite singable.
Why is it on my list? Because I will forever link it to Barbara Eden. Let me explain. My buddy Steve said to me one day, “Hey. Did you know that you can sing the I Dream of Jeannie Theme song to Mambo No 5 and it fits perfectly?” I looked at him like he was nuts…until I heard it.
So, when you give it a listen, when Lou says, “A little bit of (Girl’s name)…” when he says the girls name, start singing the theme song and watch how it fits. It’s uncanny and it is ridiculous! Now, every time I hear it, that is ALL I hear!
If you’d like me to punch my friend for you, I will.
Mambo #5
Finally, this week a song that I literally just mentioned because of a birth anniversary. Last Tuesday, I featured this for Tune Tuesday and Robert Goulet’s birthday. I didn’t realize that it would coincide with this week’s list. You can read about that here:
Alright, which one of your favorites did I miss from 1999? Tell me about it in the comments.
Next week, we enter a new decade with the year 2000. It was a year that seemed SO far away for many of us. We all breathed a sigh of relief when the world didn’t shut down at midnight on January 1st (the Y2K fiasco!). Remember that?
My list next week is straight forward, and has no cover songs on it (I may have to double check to be sure). There are a few songs that strike a chord with me, especially as I celebrated birthday #30. Another good mix comes your way in 7 days.
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.
1991 saw big changes for me. In April, a former coworker called to ask if I wanted a full time radio job at his station. It was a small market on the west side of the state (In Ludington). My girlfriend at the time and I had just had a big argument and I figured “Why not?!”
I was all by myself, in a place where I really only knew one person, at a job that decided to pay less than what I was told when I moved. It was lonely and I struggled a lot. The day I turned 21, I went to the store to buy beer and they never even carded me!
That summer would be one of my favorite summers. Michigan’s West side is just beautiful. I had never seen sunsets like those before! They were breathtaking.
Musically, there were some powerful tunes released in 1991. Some of them wouldn’t play into the events of my life for a few years, but when they did …
The first pick from ’91 is a song that I have found people either love or hate. I’m not sure why. Personally, I love the guitar sound and the harmonies in it, and I love the lyrics.
More Than Words is a song that was written by Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme. Nuno says, “The word ‘love’ itself gets really diluted, so we just wanted to say, ‘It’s not really about saying it,’ because everybody gets really worked up when somebody says that to each other. They say, ‘I love you,’ and everybody goes, ‘Oh my God! It must be serious. It must be heavy.’ It’s like, ‘Eh… it’s easy to say that.’ It’s really about showing it constantly and continuously in a relationship. We knew that was the message.”
The song was a huge hit for them. People who rushed out to buy their albums were quite surprised when they heard that the band primarily played Rock music. The band has called the song “both a blessing and a curse.”
More Than Words
R.E.M. had released the very thought provoking Losing My Religion from their Out of Time album as their first single. Their follow up was a song that could not be more different! That song was Shiny Happy People.
Michael Stipe calls this “A really fruity, kind of bubblegum song.” In an interview with The Quietus, he said that he was a bit embarrassed when it became a big hit, but it’s an important song because it shows a different side of him. Said Stipe:
“Many people’s idea of R.E.M, and me in particular, is very serious, with me being a very serious kind of poet. But I’m also actually quite funny – hey, my bandmates think so, my family thinks so, my boyfriend thinks so, so I must be – but that doesn’t always come through in the music! People have this idea of who I am probably because when I talk on camera, I’m working so hard to articulate my thoughts that I come across as very intense.”
Kate Pierson from the B-52s sang backup. She was in demand for her distinctive vocals after the B-52s achieved mainstream success with Love Shack.
In 1999, R.E.M. performed this on Sesame Street as “Furry Happy Monsters.” Kate Pierson’s part was performed by a Muppet that looked like her, voiced by Stephanie D’Abruzzo, a Muppeteer who was also a huge fan of the band.
Guitarist Peter Buck has two daughters who were big fans of the show. “You just looked around,” he recalled to Mojo in 2016, “going, Man this is a weird way to make a living.”
I had heard the song on the radio but it wasn’t until I was sitting at home watching Sesame Street with my oldest that I gained an appreciation for it.
Shiny Happy People
My next one had been on my iPod for years before the lyrics really hit me. My ex and I were at a point where all we did was argue. It was a very unhappy situation.
It was after an argument that I was in the car and heard Mariah Carey’s “I Don’t Wanna Cry.” Those lyrics were something I could have wrote;
Once again we sit in silence After all is said and done Only emptiness inside us Baby look what we’ve become We can make a million promises But we still won’t change It isn’t right to stay together When we only bring each other pain
It stung, but it was true. The end was upon us.
This was Mariah’s fourth consecutive #1 hit on the Hot 100, making her the first solo artist and female artist in Billboard history to have their first four singles top the chart.
I love her vocal and the guitar work in this one
I Don’t Want to Cry
Long before I stood next to a very drunk Hank Williams Jr at a urinal in Nashville, he had put out an album in ’91 entitled Pure Hank.
One of the singles that was released was If It Will It Will. It’s very easy for us to get caught up in worry, but worry isn’t good for us. Hank’s simple advice is something we should all remember,
“If it will, it will. If it won’t, it won’t.”
The weirdest thing about this song is the video. Right at the beginning, Little Richard shows up. To me, he’s out of place and isn’t utilized very well. Even when he does sing along, you can barely hear him. The song, however, is a favorite. It starts off with a bluesy vocal/introduction and then kicks.
If It Will, It Will
As I compile these lists for each year, I always seem to stumble on one that could be used for another feature. The next song would certainly work for my Movie Music Monday feature. It was a big hit from the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves soundtrack.
(Everything I Do) I Do It For You was written to order for the movie. It was initially written by American film composer Michael Kamen. The middle eight, break, outro and arrangement added by Bryan Adams and producer Mutt Lange. Adams used a line in the movie, “I do it for you…” as the basis for the song, and they had it written in about an hour.
The song didn’t meet with Hollywood approval. The film company wanted the song to have an instrumentation that was in line with the film’s era. Can you imagine the song featuring lutes, mandolins, and the like? The film company eventually relented, but still buried the song midway through the credits. They were obviously unaware of the huge hit they had on their hands.
The reason it made my list is because of an ex-girlfriend. It is not because it was “our song” or anything like that. She asked me if I knew the song. Naturally, I did. It was a big bridal dance song. She told me to listen to it again, but to listen to it as if God was speaking the words (making changes to tense and such).
You can’t tell me it’s (your) not worth dying for You know it’s true Everything I do (did) I do (did) it for you
I had never thought of it that way before. I always remember that conversation when I hear the song.
(Everything I Do) I Do It For You
I love Bonnie Raitt. I love listening to her sing and watching her play. She is blues. She is country. She is pop. She is folk. She is something!
She was no stranger to the music scene. Her first album came out in 1971! She also did some session work. She’s collaborated with artists like John Prine, Jackson Brown, The Pointer Sisters, Warren Zevon and Leon Russell. She finally had some success in 1989 with her award winning album Nick of Time.
The first time I heard Something To Talk About on the radio, it stuck out to me. It was so different. As a blues fan, I could hear that blues influence and I feel in love with the song. The song would go on to be her biggest chart hit in the United States, rising to #5.
She was never a singles act, but after her four Grammy wins for the album Nick Of Time, her songs started getting radio play. With radio play, they began showing up on the chart. “Something to Talk About” was the lead single to her next album, Luck of the Draw. Because of her prior success, the song was highly anticipated and radio jumped on it. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Bonnie beat out Oleta Adams, Mariah Carey, Amy Grant and Whitney Houston.
Sadly, it is also a karaoke favorite that is destroyed by many a “wanna be” singer in pubs everywhere! I’ll take the original, thank you.
Something To Talk About
The next song is on the list not because of the content, but the title. “Things That Make You Go Hmmm” became a sort of catch phrase. Arsenio Hall used it on his show all the time. I still hear people using it today!
C+C Music Factory was a dance floor staple when I was DJing. “Gonna Make You Sweat” is still one that I hear when I go to weddings. “Things That Make You Go Hmmm” was a huge dance song when it came out. It had a cool dance beat and some catchy lyrics.
Songfacts says this:
In the early ’90s, before gangsta rap took hold, rap songs were often lighthearted and clever, telling self-deprecating stories over dance grooves. Examples of this would be “Bust a Move” and “Funky Cold Medina.”
I think that is why that early 90s rap is still popular today. They really were very clever. They were also light on profanity. It isn’t odd to see “MF” and other profane words right in the titles as time goes on. That always made me laugh because how can anyone like a song where 75% of the lyrics are bleeped out? I guess that’s one of those … Things That Make You Go Hmmm….
Things That Make You Go Hmmm
The next song was one that was never released as a single. I became familiar with it after my grandfather passed away in 1994. I was extremely close to my grandpa and was heart broken when he passed. I received Reba McEntire’s For My Broken Heart album from my dear friend Allyson.
We both have birthdays in May and when life wasn’t so complicated, we’d meet for coffee or lunch to celebrate. She gave me this CD as a gift. She mentioned that she knew I was still grieving the death of my grandpa. She told me she thought of me when she heard the song, If I Had Only Known.
Quick background on the album. Reba recorded this album after losing many members of her touring band in an airplane crash. In her liner notes she says the album is “a form of healing for all our broken hearts.”
When I listened to this song for the first time, I thought about my grandpa (as Allyson had suggested). It moved me to tears. A decade later, I would hear it and think of my mom, too.
The lesson of the song? If we were aware that we were experiencing the “last” of something, we’d live life a bit differently.
If I Had Only Known
I always love to hear stories about how a song almost didn’t happen. That was the case for I Can’t Dance by Genesis. It came from a mix of a Jam session and writing session.
The lyrics are made up of bits that Phil Collins improvised in the studio. When they started working on it, they decided to just write spontaneously to keep from over-thinking it. Mike Rutherford first created the main riff of the song he called “Heavy A Flat.” Which led Phil to suddenly improvise the basic concept for “I Can’t Dance”. The riff was actually inspired by a Levi Strauss & Co. television commercial.
Originally, the band did not think of it as anything more than a joke recording that would be discarded quickly. They felt this way because the song was too simple, too bluesy, and unlike Genesis’ style. Tony Banks said, “It was one of those bits you thought was going to go nowhere. It sounded fun but wasn’t really special.”
When Banks decided to add keyboard sound effects to complement Rutherford’s playing, “I Can’t Dance” took on an entirely different feeling. The band came to appreciate the sly humor inherent in the song and chose to not only record it properly, but to put it on the album as a single.
The video created a lasting image thanks to the “silly walk” the three band members did. This walk was something Phil Collins did from time to time. He got the idea for it when he attended drama school and noticed that the worst dancers would always lead with the hand and foot on the same side. The dance has become sort of iconic.
I think that I relate to this song in that I can’t really dance. I sway when slow dancing. Fast dancing? HA! Forget it. I can’t. When I try, I look like Elaine from Seinfeld.
I Can’t Dance
When I was DJing at the local VFW, line dancing was a pretty big thing. There were all kinds of country line dances. At one point I had to make a list so I knew what dances people were doing to certain songs.
“Can you play Moo Moo Land?”
That was what someone came up and asked me one day. Moo Moo Land? What in the world was that!? Naturally, my dad knew it because there was a dance they did to it. It was called “Justified and Ancient” by the KLF and featured Tammy Wynette! What a weird pairing!
But it gets weirder! According to Songfacts:
The title “Justified & Ancient” refers to the KLF’s pseudonym and earlier incarnation, “The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu” (The JAMs). The JAMs took their name from Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson’s sci-fi tinged, conspiracy theory-laden Illuminatus! Book series in which The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu are a fictional subversive cult who have been around since pre-history. The song lyrics describe the Justified Ancients making their way to Mu Mu Land in an ice cream van.
Huh?!
Even Tammy was unsure about it. She originally thought the song was called “Justified and ANXIOUS.” She said, “As it was, I didn’t understand what some of the words meant. I know about ice cream vans, but I’d never heard of a 99 before,” she added. “Bill explained it to me and now it makes perfectly good sense. I’m still not sure about Justified and Ancient though.” (A 99 is an ice cream with a flake in it).
Really, it is a great dance record. It’s neat to hear Tammy Wynette on it and it really revitalized her career.
Justified and Ancient
Last week I threw in that crazy Bingo Boys song at the end of my list. This week, I have to throw in another totally ridiculous song at you. Again, it is one that my best friend Jeff and I laughed about – a lot.
The group 2nu (pronounced “two – new”) was a pop group out of Seattle, Washington. When they first hit the scene, they has yet to come up with a name. A radio DJ said that the band was still too new to have a name, and they decided that worked. They have only released three albums, the first in 1991. What makes them unique (if that is the right word) is that their songs consist of sound effects, rhythmic beats, and a spoken word lyric. Their first single was “This is Ponderous.”
The song is more bizarre than ponderous. My buddy and I used to laugh at the “language the narrator doesn’t understand.”
Feel free to file this in the “What the heck was that?” folder…
This Is Ponderous
And with that silliness, we wrap up 1991. I mentioned that I can’t dance this week. Next week, as we dive into 1992, it contains the only fast song that I will dance to. It is an interesting list. It includes three cover songs, one parody song, three movie songs, a song about a royal feud, a song for the hard workers, and a song for the poor. I think you’ll enjoy it.
Did I forget one one your favorites from 1991? Drop it in the comments. I’d love to see if it was one that was on my radar.
I truly hope you are enjoying this series. Thanks for reading!
Superheroes were big when I was growing up. I watched the Batman 1966 TV show, on Saturday morning my brother and I would watch the Superfriends cartoon, and on the Electric Company, there used to be a segment with a live action Spiderman.
Hollywood is forever recycling ideas and it is no surprise that Superhero movies have been very prominent over the past couple decades. I saw the first Toby McGuire Spiderman movie and thought it was ok. It did well at the box office, so naturally Hollywood had to make a sequel.
I didn’t see any of the sequels. I’m not sure why, other than they trailers didn’t peak my interest. This was probably at a time where Superhero movies were saturating the box office.
In 2004, my iPod was fairly new to me and I was adding music from iTunes regularly. When you opened it up, there were always “new” songs on the home page. One of them caught my eye.
At first, I wasn’t sure what to think when I saw “Theme From Spiderman” by Michael Buble’. You could listen to a thirty second preview before you bought a song, and that’s all it took for me to love it!
I don’t recall if the 1967 Spiderman cartoon was something I watched on Saturday mornings or if it was something that came on after school. What I do remember was just how cool it was! That, and it had one of the coolest theme songs!!
According to Wikipedia, the theme song was written by Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris. The original song was recorded at RCA Studios in Toronto (where the cartoon was produced) featuring 12 CBC vocalists who added to the musical backing track supplied by RCA Studios, New York.
The vocalists were members of the Bobby Van Singers, and Laurie Bower Singers. The singers were paid only for the session and have had no residuals from its use since then.
The theme song contains one of my favorite lines: “Is he strong? Listen, bud, he’s got radioactive blood!”. Isn’t that awesome?!
The 1967 version was featured at the end of the first Spiderman movie in 2002. The Michael Buble’ version appears at the end of the 2004 sequel.
Let’s listen to both, just because!!
Here’s Michael’s swinging take on the theme. His band is so good!!!
Spiderman Theme
Spider-Man, Spider-Man Does whatever a spider can Spins a web, any size Catches thieves just like flies Look out Here comes the Spider-Man
Is he strong? Listen bud He’s got radioactive blood Can he swing from a thread? Take a look overhead Hey, there There goes the Spider-Man
In the chill of night At the scene of a crime Like a streak of light He arrives just in time
Spider-Man, Spider-Man Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man Wealth and fame He’s ignored Action is his reward Look out Here comes the Spider-Man
Spider-Man, Spider-Man Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man Wealth and fame He’s ignored Action is his reward Look out Here comes the Spider-Man
In the chill of night At the scene of a crime Like a streak of light He arrives just in time
Spider-Man, Spider-Man Does whatever a spider can Spins a web, any size Catches thieves just like flies Look out Here comes the Spider-Man
Spider-Man, Spider-Man Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man Wealth and fame He’s ignored Action is his reward Look out Here comes the Spider-Man
Welcome to another edition of Turntable Talk hosted by Dave over at A Sound Day. Check out his site here: https://soundday.wordpress.com/
His topics have ranged from very easy to thought provoking. This time around, I find it truly thought provoking.
Here are the instructions that Dave sent to each of the participants describing what this edition was to be about:
This time around I’m calling it ‘Shock rock’… but wait, it’s not about Marilyn Manson and Megadeath…unless you want it to be. The subject basically will be pick a record that you love that would surprise people… something that runs afar from your regular favorite listening. Maybe you like hard rock but love something by the Carpenters. Or are a huge ’60s fan who can’t get enough Bruno Mars. Or maybe it’s a little Tchaikovsky to wind down after a night full of Stones or Springsteen. Let us know what it is that makes that ‘oddball’ selection so appealing to you.
What Could Possibly “Surprise” You?
I have almost 5000 songs on my iPod. I have a CD collection that fills at least three storage totes, and 4 carrying cases. My external hard drive is loaded up with almost half a terabyte of songs. What ONE song would surprise you? This was my dilemma.
I had three songs immediately jump out at me when I first read Dave’s e-mail. The more I thought on them, I just wasn’t sure which one to pick. As I am writing this, I still question the one that I chose. I will stick with it because it isn’t something I would normally post, and it is more of a personal song. So how in the world did I narrow it down?
Grab my iPod and there is just about every genre of music on there. There is pop music from every decade from the 1930’s to the 2010’s. There is country music – classic and modern. There is a fair amount of R&B, Soul and Motown. I’m not ashamed to admit there are some disco favorites, too. You will also find Big Band and Swing music, Jazz, standards, and plenty of Classical music. There is Christian music and plenty of oldies. There are some favorite Christmas songs on the play list and songs that I played when I was in high school band that I downloaded from YouTube and other sources.
Going through the iPod, there were songs that I thought were “oddball” that I could write about. For example, I have almost every Weird Al Polka Medley on there. I also have music from the Shrek soundtrack, music from The Muppets, and music from the cartoon Phineas and Ferb. There are also plenty of songs that are on there that my kids used to listen to when we would be in the car from some of their favorite kid shows. Oddball, indeed.
All that being said, anyone who knows me or has read my blog before knows that I have a wide range of musical tastes. It would be easy to feature any one of the “oddball” songs mentioned in the above paragraph. Instead, there was one song that stood out for me. It is a song that I never skip when it comes on the iPod (there are only a few of those). It is also a song that I have debated posting on my blog as part of a “music Monday” or some music feature. I kept holding back, probably because it is such a personal song for me. Will you find it “shocking?” I doubt it.
Untitled Hymn – Chris Rice
Readers of my blog know that I am a Christian. While I don’t care for much of the “modern” Christian music, I do like many songs. I cannot recall when I first heard Chris Rice’s “Untitled Hymn,” but it hit me immediately. It was a song that I shared with one of the guys at church, who worked it up and sang it on more than one occasion.
To those who are not of the Christian faith, there will be no connection whatsoever to the song. To me, however, it hits me deep every time I hear it. I am reminded of who I was before and who I am now. It also reminds me that when my life is over – it isn’t over. I am aware that not everyone believes what I do, and that is ok. I’m ok if you just scroll on by this blog.
The song begins with a lone piano and then the vocal. The lyrics of this song speak of the journey of a Christian. From sinner to saved. Singing praise. New life in Christ and life’s struggles and looking to Him in those struggles. Feeling the love and joy that comes in this new life. Finally, the “end” of life on earth for the Christian and the beginning of the afterlife.
The vocal and the piano blend so perfectly. The inflection of the vocal through the dynamics of the song conveys the lyrics exactly how they need to be conveyed. Rice rerecorded the song for “A Collection of Hymns” with a more up-tempo piano and more instrumentation (strings, guitar, etc…) and vocal harmony. Personally, I prefer the original recording over the newer version. I feel it is more powerful.
Here is the original and the lyrics:
Weak and wounded sinner Lost and left to die Oh, raise your head for Love is passing by
Come to Jesus Come to Jesus Come to Jesus and live
Now your burden’s lifted And carried far away And precious blood has washed away the stain
So, sing to Jesus Sing to Jesus Sing to Jesus and live
And like a newborn baby Don’t be afraid to crawl And remember when you walk sometimes we fall
So, fall on Jesus Fall on Jesus Fall on Jesus and live
Sometimes the way is lonely And steep and filled with pain So if your sky is dark and pours the rain
Then cry to Jesus Cry to Jesus Cry to Jesus and live
Oh and when the love splills over And music fills the night And when you can’t contain your joy inside
Then dance for Jesus Dance for Jesus Dance for Jesus and live
With your final heartbeat Kiss the world goodbye Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory’s side
And fly to Jesus Fly to Jesus Fly to Jesus and live
Fly to Jesus Fly to Jesus Fly to Jesus and live
In Closing
Does it shock you that I picked this song? I guess it is a bit different than the songs I have posted in the past. Isn’t that what I was supposed to do? At any rate, Dave asked us to explain what makes this song so “appealing.” All I can say is that it appeals to me because I relate to it. Outside of the last verse, I have lived it. It is a song that strikes a chord (pun intended) every time I hear it. Depending on what is going on in my life, I either smile and sing along or cry and sing along. To me, that makes it one powerful song.
Thanks for allowing me to participate, Dave. I look forward to the next edition.
I drive about 70 miles to work each day. Round trip that means I drive about 140 miles 4 times a week. In a year, I will put about 29,000 miles on my car. I got good gas mileage on the car I was driving, however, I was about to turn 170,000 and it was time to trade it in.
Sam and I had been talking for some time about getting a newer vehicle. She was looking at vans. We wanted something that we could take on trips, as well as fit both boys, the baby and us! She had a good idea of what she was looking for. With winter just around the corner, we weren’t sure just how many miles we had left on mine, so the search was on.
Last Saturday we found a 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan that fit perfectly within our budget. It took us about 2 hours and we drove off the lot with it. The question then became “Who’s gonna drive it?”
Sam drives a few less miles a day than I do, so she decided to drive the van, and I inherited her car. Prior to getting the van, if we went anywhere, we always took Sam’s car. I usually drove, so I was quite familiar with it. However, now that this car was becoming my ride, I had to adjust a few things.
I always had to put the seat back when I drove. So now the seat is where it needs to be. The mirrors are now adjusted for me. My Autism Awareness and Detroit Tigers magnets are now on the back of this car. I connected my phone to the bluetooth, which is awesome because I can talk hands free now. Finally, I programmed all my radio stations on the radio.
On my old car, I could connect my iPod and it would play the songs on shuffle. Now, the radio guy in me always thinks it is cool when songs that have something in common play back to back. It’s even cooler when different versions of the same song play back to back. And us radio guys think it is extra amazing when an old radio station jingle plays into a song we used to play at that station!
Anyway, I’m driving home this morning and check to see that the iPod will play. The song that plays is True Love by Glen Frey. That is followed by True Love (different song) by Pat Benatar. I’m loving the coincidence when True Love Ways by Buddy Holly follows that! Now that’s really cool, right?! Buddy is followed by True Love Ways by Martina McBride. Now I am a bit freaked out. This is just WAY too weird. Martina is followed by Truly by the Lionel Richie, which is followed by Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden. It is only after that song begins, that I realize the iPod is playing all the songs in alphabetical order! What a dope!!! Needless to say, I found the “Shuffle” button on the touch screen and can now listen un-alphabetically!
Quick Ella Story
Not too long ago, I stumbled on a video by Daniel Labelle. He is on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. His videos are silly, and hilarious. The one I first saw was “If People Did Everything Agressively.” It was so ridiculous that I had to send it to my best friend, Jeff. He found an “extended” video with even more silliness and sent it to me.
Anyway, this morning, he sends me a new video from this guy – “If People Did Everything in a Rush.” So, I am sitting on the floor and Ella is next to me. I start laughing at the stupidity of this video and she crawls over to me and starts watching it too. The video is looped, so it starts back at the beginning once it is over and keeps playing. The more it played, the more she laughed. These were truly the biggest belly laughs I have heard from her! What did she find so funny? See for yourself…
Daniel Labelle
She cracked up at the garbage can, the lawn mower, the vacuum, and him running toward the camera with the weed whacker! I must have watched this 40 times today just to hear her laugh. Fast forward a couple of hours. Ella woke up from her nap and Sam is out on the living room floor changing her diaper. She gets the diaper off and Ella starts rolling away. I walk out and tell Sam, “You’ve gotta see this! She was laughing so hard at this earlier!” So Ella sits on Sam’s lap and I play the video. She starts to belly laugh, just like earlier. The video loops again and she laughs even more. Then, with no warning at all and in the middle of a belly laugh, she peed all over Sam!
Our little pumpkin sure gives us so much to be happy about! She also provides many laughs and many memories which I am sure we will look back on fondly in the years ahead!
I have had my iPod Classic for about 17 years. The original computer I used to synch it with iTunes is long dead. I haven’t added any music to it in some time because I had synched it to too many computers (now all dead) over the years. Recently, I had my first issue …
I need my music. Music is SO important to me. I listen to it at night while at work (often drowning out the conversations or non-stop babble of coworkers). I listen to it when I take a walk. I listen to it in my car (while connected with USB). I have over 5000 songs on it, many of which I cannot find anywhere anymore. I do NOT want to give it up.
Within the last few weeks, the one ear stopped working. I thought it was just the headphones I was using, but upon trying other headphones, I discovered it was something in the iPod itself. I contacted Apple Support tonight and was basically told that my iPod Classic (as well as an old Nano my son had) was “obsolete”. I could try cleaning it with the bristles of a tooth brush or blow air into it to see if there was debris in it (which I did), but that didn’t work. The only option she gave me was “try to go to an Apple store and they ‘may’ be able to fix it”.
The closest Apple store is an hour from me, and quite frankly, I don’t want to pay a ton of money just to have it looked at. Besides, there are plenty of articles online about how when people had taken it in to be fixed, they were told it was beyond repair. Right now if I connect it to my car USB, it plays in both speakers. So, technically, it still works. I don’t want them to “break it further”!
I certainly don’t have the money to buy a new one, which is the iPod Touch (which, as you know, had a huge touch screen and is easily breakable even with a case, screen protector, and such). Hell, the refurbished ones (with the space I have on my classic) is something like $200! So, do I get one only to have it become “obsolete”, too?!
Apple – you disappoint me. First, you made it so after a few computers, I couldn’t add music to my device. Then, you update iTunes to the point where it won’t even connect to the device. Then you basically don’t support your previous devices. I cannot begin to voice my disappointment loud enough! It angers me! I know that I cannot be the only Apple customer who feels this way. You didn’t even offer me a trade in toward a new device. Sad.
I really don’t want a cheap MP3 player, but I guess that’s what I may end up doing. I also will now need to make that list of songs on the iPod currently and begin to create a folder somewhere on my laptop or external drive to store them so that when I get another device I can put those songs on it. I also will need to see about finding a way to get the ones that are unavailable for me to get, or things that I personally recorded for it, into some sort of file to transfer it over.
In the meantime, at least I can still listen to it in the car, and still use it on the dock while I DJ. Hang in there old and obsolete friend….
I follow quite a few blogs that focus on classic movies, classic TV, and great music. One of the bloggers I follow posted a bit about Dwight Yoakam and his great song “Ain’t That Lonely Yet.” You can see that blog at the following link:
When I am driving in to work, or at work listening to my iPod or Pandora, I will jot down songs that I think I might want to post for Tune Tuesday. The day he posted his Dwight song, I had been listening to my iPod and heard one of my favorites, which is today’s tune.
In 1990, Dwight Yoakam released his fourth album “If There Was a Way”. It produced 5 top 40 singles – “Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose” (#11), “You’re the One” (#5), “Nothing’s Changed Here” (#15), “It Only Hurts When I Cry” (#7), and “The Heart That You Own” (#18). He also released a duet with Patty Loveless called “Send a Message to My Heart” which reached #47. The album also includes some great cuts that never played on the radio: The uptempo “Since I Started Drinking Again”, the bluesy title track, a cover of Wilbert Harrison’s “Let’s Work Together” and the opening song – “The Distance Between You and Me”
The song opens with a lone guitar lick, and then goes into a classic country riff. A teacher I had in high school used to say country songs always had an “un-chicka un-chicka un-chicka” beat to them….LOL. When you listen to it, you will know what I mean.
Dwight wrote this song. I’m not sure what his inspiration was, but I LOVE the illustrations he paints for us with the lyrics. He is in a dead relationship. They two are co-existing. They are two people who could not be farther apart. How far? The lyrics explain.
The Distance Between You and Me
Take a rock tie a rope
Throw it down in the sea
Let it fall to the bottom
Nobody knows how deep
Stare real hard through the water
And you might just perceive
The distance between you and me
The distance between you and me
Take a map of the world
And measure with your hand
All of the miles
Across all of the land
Write it down add it up
And you might understand
About the distance between you and me
The distance between you and me
I lie awake and hear you breathing
Only inches from me in this bed
Not much space but it’s all that we needed
To live alone now that our love is dead
I lie awake and hear you breathing
Only inches from me in this bed
Not much space but it’s all that we needed
To live alone now that our love is dead
Climb the Earth’s tallest mountain
To where it reaches the sky
Take a gun fire a bullet
Straight up out of sight
Where it stops in the heaven
Well that ain’t half as high
As the distance between you and me
The distance between you and me
I love the haunting final chord at the end of this song! I saw Dwight in concert a few times and he really is great on stage. I actually had the chance to meet him once and it was … weird. Everyone with Meet and Greet passes all went into his tour bus. We all sat down and he exited what must have been his bedroom on there. He walked around to each of us. Shook our hand. Looked directly into our eyes and asked our name. He then repeated our name and said, “Hi,(your name). I’m Dwight.” The whole time I was thinking, “Dude! You have been making records for years…..you have a ton of hits…..we all have tickets to your show….we know who YOU are!!” He was very gracious and signed autographs and took pictures, but it was one of the most awkward meet and greets I have ever been though.
If you are like me, you have songs that when you hear them on your MP3 player, or your iPod, as soon as they end, you play them again. I have quite a few of them. I would wager a guess that these songs will end up here in future Tune Tuesday blogs. Today’s song is definitely one that I play at least twice.
I was working in country radio when this song hit my desk. I knew that the Eagles, whose last studio album had been 28 years earlier, had recorded a new album. I was surprised that this song was shipped to our station as a song that could possibly make the playlist. While the Eagles certainly had a “southern” sound, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
I popped it into the CD player and began to listen to it. I remember liking the opening guitar lick. I remember thinking that the vocals were strong and then the chorus hit. Those amazing Eagles harmonies were there and sounded amazing! Solid Eagles. I fell in love with it and when I talked to my program director, he thought the same thing. It stood out amongst the other songs, and we were ok with that.
What’s neat about the song is that The Eagles had been performing it at concerts in the early 70’s. The song was written by JD Souther, and he wanted to record it for his own album, so the Eagles never recorded it. Souther and the Eagles were good friends, and JD co-wrote some of their hits (New Kid In Town, Heartache Tonight, and The Best of My Love). He released his version of the song on his 1972 Album, John David Souther.
Fast forward to 2007. Glenn Frey said that his kids were watching a clip of the Eagles on a special called Pop Gala (in Holland) from 1974. As his kids laughed at how long his hair was, the band was playing How Long. Glenn’s wife told him that the band should record the song stating that it was “classic Eagles.” He agreed that it would fit right in with what they were recording for their album Long Road Out of Eden.
In 2008, the song won a Grammy Award for “Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal”. It was the group’s first Grammy since 1979. 1979 was also when they had recorded their last studio album.
Like a blue bird with his heart removed, lonely as a train
I’ve run just as far as I can run
If I never see the good old days shinin’ in the sun
I’ll be doin’ fine and then some
How long, how long
Woman will you weep
How long, how long
Rock yourself to sleep
Well I been doin’ time in lonesome prison, where the sun don’t shine
Just outside, the freedom river runs
Out there in that shiny night, with blood hounds on your mind
Don’t you know it’s the same sad situation?
How long, how long
Woman will you weep
How long, how long
Rock yourself to sleep
Everybody feels alright you know, I heard some poor fool say (somebody ooh)
Everyone is out there on the loose
Well I wish I lived in the land of fools, no one knew my name
But what you get is not quite what you choose
Tell me, how long, how long
Woman will you weep
How long, how long
Rock yourself to sleep
How long, how long
Muddy River runs so deep
How long, how long
Good night baby, rock yourself to sleep
Sleep tight baby, rock yourself to sleep
B-b-b, bye bye baby, rock yourself to sleep
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 