Last year Rolling Stone magazine listed its 100 Best Movie Soundtracks list. It was interesting to scroll through. There were plenty of movies on the list that I have never seen. Sitting at the top of the list was Prince’s Purple Rain.
The soundtrack was loaded with hits: Let’s Go Crazy. I Would Die 4 U, Purple Rain and today’s featured song. According to Songfacts.com, the film is semi-autobiographical, but how much is based on real life remains a mystery, as Prince rarely gave interviews and didn’t talk about his personal life.
In the movie, When Doves Cry expresses his fear of becoming like his parents. When the doves cry, that’s his musical refuge – the barrage of keyboards in the chorus represents the doves crying. Besides writing and composing the track, Prince played all the instruments on the song.
I never noticed this before, but there is no bass on this song. Prince took out the bass track at the last minute to get a different sound, though he hated to see it go.
“Sometimes your brain kind of splits in two – your ego tells you one thing, and the rest of you says something else. You have to go with what you know is right,” he told Bass Player magazine.
Prince used his trusty LM-1 drum machine (now on display at Paisley Park) on this track to create the unique percussion. It was ntroduced in 1980 by Roger Linn, the LM-1 was the first programmable drum machine that sampled real drums.
To make the sound, Prince used a recording of a cross-stick snare drum, where you hold the tip onto the drum head and slap the stick against the rim of the drum. He then tuned it down an octave to give it more of a knocking sound, and ran it through a guitar processor.
Fun fact: Although there is no bass in the song and the percussion part is played entirely by drum machine, Prince’s drummer and bass player from his band The Revolution still appear in the video “playing” along on their instruments.
It was on this day in 1989 that Michael Keaton hit the big screen as Batman. Jack Nicholson was chosen to play the Joker.
Growing up, my only knowledge of Batman was from cartoons and the 1966 series. When the previews came out for this, I was very apprehensive. It was darker than any previous incarnation of the character I had seen.
I remember being one of the “hold outs” who didn’t really want to see the movie. My girlfriend at the time wanted to see it, so I eventually caved (pun intended) and went to see it
I truly loved the movie. Keaton was actually pretty good as the title character. Nicholson was, of course, fantastic as the Joker. He kind of stole the show, as they say.
The opening theme from Danny Elfman perfectly fits the movie. His music throughout the film seemed to enhance the scenes they accompanied. Then there was the “other” soundtrack.
From Songfacts.com:
Because of the abundance of music available for the movie (Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo created the instrumental score), there were two soundtrack albums: Elfman’s and Prince’s. Everything that Prince composed for the movie, whether it was used in the film or not, went onto his album, including “Batdance.”
Director Tim Burton asked Prince to contribute songs for his Batman movie (at the time, he was using “1999” and “Baby I’m a Star” on a temporary soundtrack). Prince accepted while watching a rough cut of the movie and noticed four places in the film that would be “natural” locations for his songs.
Prince canceled a scheduled Paris vacation to write and produce songs for the movie. A month after the meeting with Burton, he played the director eight songs, all of them synchronized to the film. Burton rejected some of them (including “Rave the Joy Fantastic,” and “200 Balloons”), but liked most of what he heard and asked for two additional songs. “Trust” and “Partyman” were quickly offered by the Purple One.In the end, six Prince songs were used in the film.
“Batdance” was not used in the movie, and Prince never offered it up. Comprised of bits Prince pieced together overnight from music, sounds and dialogue from the movie, it served as a companion piece for the film and was essentially promotional vehicle for Batman.
Batdance was Prince’s first #1 hit since “Kiss” in early 1986. It seemed to be on every radio station around this time and did help boost the popularity of the movie. Personally, it didn’t do much for me.
Elfman’s theme, however, was a cut that I just loved! That entire build up until the opening chord (:40 seconds in) builds so much suspense. When that chord ceases and the theme continues it foreshadows the action that the film will present. It’s so good.
This was first posted on the A Sound Day blog hosted by Dave Ruch:
Once again, Dave from A Sound Day has invited me to participate in his month Turntable Talk feature. I truly appreciate the fact that he always comes up with great topics. Some of those topics are a bit more difficult to write (like last month), and some are quite easy. This month’s topic falls into the latter category.
Dave is calling this month’s round –Turn it on Again! His instructions are very easy: “tell us about your favorite music video, or the one which impresses you most, and why you love it.” As a child who grew up with MTV, I had many that came to mind.
At this writing, I don’t know what the other contributors have chosen to write about. Has someone picked Michael Jackson’s Thriller? What about Take on Me from A-Ha or Buddy Holly by Weezer? I also wonder about Fatboy Slim’s Weapon of Choice, Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer and Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. Each and every one of them stands out and have appeared on many “Best Music Video” lists.
I’m not sure that my pick would be considered my “favorite.” I also wouldn’t say it “impresses” me most, but I do enjoy watching the craziness of it. I suppose readers may be surprised at my choice, as I don’t really write about many “rock” songs. I suppose that this song wouldn’t fit into that category, but the singer qualifies as a rocker (at least most people think so).
“The band as you know it is over!” That is what Eddie Van Halen told Rolling Stone in mid-August 1985. This confirmed the rumors of division in the band with David Lee Roth. Eddie also made sure to add that “Dave left to be a movie star.” With that, Dave went on to explore a solo career. In late 1984, Dave released a cover of the Beach Boy’s California Girls. He followed that with another cover song (medley actually) from the great Louis Prima.
In 1956, Prima took the song Just a Gigolo and paired it up with I Ain’t Got Nobody. He used the song in his 1950’s Las Vegas act with Sam Butera and Keely Smith. The success of that act gained Prima a recording deal with Capitol Record, which hoped to capture on record the atmosphere of his shows. The first album, titled The Wildest! was released in November 1956, and opened with “Just a Gigolo”/”I Ain’t Got Nobody.” It became Prima’s signature number and helped relaunch his career.
Roth’s version is really almost a note for not copy of Prima’s record. By itself, it’s just an ok cover song. However, with an entertaining video that features celebrity look-alikes, beautiful women, and Dave being … Dave, it becomes something much much more.
The video for the song begins with Dave asleep at a news desk as his video for “California Girls” plays behind him on the monitor. The crew calls his name and he wakes up. After his talk, the freaky crew members begin to speak to him. They are right in the camera, so the viewer sees this from Dave’s perspective in this sequence. It’s actually kind of disturbing. The intro to the video is almost two minutes long before the song actually begins.
When it does, Dave is off dancing through the studio. We see him showing up at a talk show, walking through the backstage area among Vegas showgirls, astronauts, pimps, pirates, monsters, cheerleaders, hula dancers, and the police. All of this happens before you really get to the “meat and potatoes” of the video.
It is there that Dave begins parodying videos from Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Idol, Richard Simmons’s “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” videos (Davercize!), Willie Nelson, and Boy George. As he appears in each of the videos, he winds up wrecking them. It is almost like watching a cartoon. It’s utter chaos, but a fun chaos (unless you count the priest who has a heart attack because of Dave’s dancing.)
The video is like a snapshot of the 80’s. It’s funny to imagine Dave crashing into a Willie Nelson or Cyndi Lauper video. As the “Nostalgic Italian,” I appreciate the nostalgia that the video presents. It is more powerful now than it was in 1985.
Eventually, MTV edited the 2 minute intro out, and just played the song portion of the video in rotation. I think that is how I first saw the video. When I searched for it to post in this blog, I found the full video. I honestly had forgotten all about the intro, but seeing it again was a hoot. Watching Dave do his “over the top” announcer made me think of so many of those DJ’s on the radio who literally puke every thing they say.
Back in one of our first rounds of Turntable Talk, we discussed music videos and whether they hurt radio. To me, I love the fact that a music video can convey the story of a sad song or add a whole lot of fun to another. With this video, Dave pokes fun at other videos, which only makes his more enjoyable to see.
I could be wrong, but it is possible that Weird Al Yankovic looked back to this video as inspiration for his UFH video. In Al’s Video, (in between clips from the movie) he pokes fun at Guns and Roses, Prince, George Michael, Peter Gabriel, ZZ Top, Billy Idol, The Beatles, INXS and the Talking Heads!
Thanks again, Dave for asking me to take part in this feature. I know that I really look forward to your topics and enjoy writing my response to them. I am already looking forward to next month.
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.
1988 was a very big year for me. It was the year I graduated from high school. It was also the year that I landed my first radio job. As graduation day grew closer, I began counting all of the “lasts.” The last marching band performance. The last band concert. The last final exam. To say that I was an emotional wreck would be an understatement.
After graduation, I had a full time radio gig (making a whopping $12 an hour) and so I gave up thinking about doing anything else. I was that clueless to think that I’d have this radio gig until I retired. Can you imagine? Typical 18 year-old!
I mentioned last week that 1988’s list would present some songs that may or may not seem out of place. I suppose that those who know me well will not be surprised by the songs I picked, and there certainly is a variety! Well, I suppose I should get right into the tunes …
I have to remind myself that it is not Movie Music Monday, because my list includes not one, but two songs from the soundtrack to Tom Cruise’s film, Cocktail. My buddy Steve and I cruised a lot our senior year. He was always bringing new music for me to listen to. I am almost positive that he was the one who told me about the Georgia Satellites’ version of the Hippy Hippy Shake.
The version I was familiar with was done by the Swinging Blue Jeans, and was a song we played at my first radio station. I had no idea that the song was written and recorded first by Chan Romero in 1959. Anyway, when I hear the Satellites’ version really rocks and it was a great song to cruise to.
Hippy Hippy Shake
In 1987, the song La Bamba was a hit again. This time it was Los Lobos from the soundtrack to the hit movie starring Lou Diamond Phillips. It made for the perfect parody song for Weird Al Yankovic. His version was called, Lasagna. Now, what Italian wouldn’t like this song?!
It is on my list because when my dad booked my graduation party, he also gathered up a few of his band friends. He had the sax guy, keyboard guy, and bass guy come. It was either my cousin or my uncle who brought their drum kit, and my dad brought his guitar. No rehearsal, all they had was some lyric sheets with chords on them and they jammed through the whole party. It was awesome!
My dad played so many great blues songs. Everyone seemed to take turns singing something. My dad called me, and my friends Steve and Joe up to the stage and handed us the lyrics to Weird Al’s Lasagna. I’m guessing it didn’t take much coaxing for us to sing, and it was probably awful. However, it is a great memory of me and my pals.
Lasagna
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, they say. Robert Palmer had great success with his Addicted to Love video. So he brought back the models from the previous music video for this one. Only this time they’ve multiplied! Five of them do choreographed dance moves, but another eight stand behind Palmer looking bored. It worked, though, as Palmer won the 1988 Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male for this song. It was the same award he won two years earlier for “Addicted To Love.”
Songfacts.com says: The big, sexy hook in this song is the pause after Palmer sings, “Now I find her.” After some drumbeats, he comes back with “…simply irresistible.” The song was in the works for three years before Palmer came up with this part, making the song complete. “A little thing like that makes the difference between an idea and the complete song,” he wrote in his Addictions: Volume 1 liner notes, adding, “I like the manic military rhythm and the strong counter melody.”
This was yet another song that made it to our “cruising cassettes.” It was another great sing along song for us.
Simply Irresistible
My next song is one that I always thought was very creative. I Hate Myself for Loving You is such a great line. I relate to in in a few ways. As a young punk, I kinda fell for gals pretty hard. I let many of them treat me bad and I just kept hanging on with them. I always felt that I would just keep on loving them through it all. Yeah, I was an idiot. Today, that title makes me smile and makes me think of young Keith, who just wanted to make someone happy.
Thanks to Songfacts, I learned that that wasn’t originally the title: Joan Jett’s producer Kenny Laguna told us that Joan came up with the guitar riff for this song and wrote it as “I Hate Myself Because I Can’t Get Laid.” She took it to the writer/producer Desmond Child, who thought the title would never fly and convinced Joan to change it to something with “Love” in the title. Child, who got a co-writing credit on the song.
I Hate Myself For Loving You
The next song is the only country song on my list. I am guessing that I never really heard this when it was released, and became familiar with it a year or so after when I had my first stint at a country station.
I was familiar with the Oak Ridge Boys, of course. I mean, who wasn’t? Elvira was all over the radio when it was out. They guys had great harmonies and when I first heard Gonna Take a Lot of River, that is what stood out to me. This would have been sometime in 1991, when my girlfriend had broken up with me.
That being said, the lyrics now really hit home. I spent a lot of time at the beach and on the pier watching the waves during that time. So the lines “Because my baby’s long gone and nothings going my way. I’m gonna let this muddy water just wash away my blues.” resonated with me.
Today, when I hear it I just love listening to the harmonies and fumble every time I try to say, “Monongahela.”
Gonna Take a Lot of River
The variety of songs continues …
1988 brought us the only acapella song to go to number one in the United States. It is the second song from the Cocktail soundtrack. Don’t Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin was unlike anything on the radio at the time. Bobby recorded it using only his body to make all the sounds. The simple message and unusual sound made it a surprise hit.
The inspiration for the song came from a poster that Bobby saw featuring the Indian guru Meher Baba. It simply said, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Bobby says that when he saw it he thought it was “a pretty neat philosophy in four words.” If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say, Don’t Worry, Be Happy in 1988 alone, I’d be financially set for life.
The video was a silly one and a received lots of airplay on MTV. It featured Robin Williams and the lesser-known comedian Bill Irwin (who plays Mr. Noodle on Sesame Street). It is interesting to note that the video is a bit shorter than the single.
I always think of my best friend, Jeff, when I hear this one. He would always say the line, “I’ll give you my phone number, when you worry, call me, I’ll make you happy.” We found that line hilarious for some reason.
Don’t Worry, Be Happy
The next song was something I heard while cruising with my girlfriend. I’m sure we were listening to that Love Song show (Pillow Talk). It grabbed me from the intro. It was a smooth groove that reminded me of some old Atlantic or Stax soul songs. I was surprised to learn it was Glenn Frey.
Glenn’s Soul Searching album was his third solo album. I picked up the album because of the song True Love. My feelings about the song were justified when I read the liner notes. Frey wrote of the song “For those of you who have my previous albums, I apologize. I just can’t shake my obsession with this Al Green-Memphis thing. Like Wilson Pickett says, ‘Don’t fight it’.” Cash Box magazine even called the song: “a classic R&B tune replete with hornbreaks and soul-tinged arrangement and production.”
My favorite part of the song is the fake ending. After a second or two, the drum kicks back in and the sax wails away at a solo. Love this song. I wish the video would have started with the song instead of the cheesy acting by the actors … LOL
True Love
Who would have thought that Tom Jones would have a career boost in 1988?! Tom enjoyed great success in the mid 60’s and the 1970’s. He never really stopped making records and was always on tour. In the early 1980s, Jones started to record country music. From 1980 to 1986, he had nine songs in the US country top 40, yet failed to crack the top 100 in the UK or the Billboard Hot 100.
Prince had recorded Kiss in 1986. The song was a big hit and continues to be played in a regular rotation on Adult Contemporary stations all over the country. I know that many will not agree with me when I say that Prince’s version sounds weak compared to the Tom Jones/Art of Noise version. Tom commands the song and I cannot love it more!
According to Songfacts, after his country songs, he “made a left-field decision to cover this song, and in doing so revived his career. He told the Observer Music Monthly December 2008 how this came about: “If I hear a song I like I’ll do it in the show, so when I heard this I sang it (Kiss) in an R&B style. Then I was due to go on Jonathan Ross’s program in 1987 to perform the ballad ‘A Boy From Nowhere,’ and he wanted something upbeat too. My philosophy has always been: when in doubt, do ‘Great Balls of Fire.’ But Jonathan asked if I had anything new. Art of Noise were watching and they asked if I’d do a version with them. When they sent me the finished version I thought: ‘If this isn’t a hit, I’ll bloody well pack it all in.’ It was a busting hit.”
Tom tells a great story about Prince. When he met Prince and thanked him for the song, but didn’t ask what his thought of his version, as he wasn’t sure he would like the answer. “I saw a movie once that Bette Midler did called The Rose,” Jones said in a Songfacts interview. “She goes to see Harry Dean Stanton, a country singer, because she’d recorded one of his songs. She says she’s a big fan of his, and just before she walks out the door he says, ‘Could I say one thing to you? Don’t you ever record one of my songs again. ‘That hit home. I thought, s–t, I’m never going to ask a songwriter what he or she thinks of my version. I’ll leave that to them. That always sticks in my mind. So I just thanked him for writing it.”
Fun fact: Prince and Tom Jones were both born on the same day, the 7th of June (Prince in 1958, Jones in 1940)
Kiss
I am sure that I have talked about the next song before. I am also sure that I talked about the album before. It was truly a monumental event!
From Songfacts: Handle With Care was the first single from The Traveling Wilburys, a supergroup created by George Harrison and Jeff Lynne. Initially an informal grouping with Roy Orbison and Tom Petty, they got together at Bob Dylan’s Santa Monica, California, studio to quickly record an additional track as a B-side for the single release of Harrison’s song “This Is Love.” “Handle With Care” was the song they came up with, which Harrison and his record company immediately realized was too good to be released as merely a B-side. The five superstars decided to form a band and make an entire album, recording nine more songs at Dave Stewart’s (of Eurythmics) house in Los Angeles in a 10-day window when they were all available.
This was the only video that included Roy Orbison. A short time after the album was released, he passed away of a heart attack. I was working at the radio station the morning that news of his passing came across the news wire. I will never forget that.
Handle With Care
When I was DJing parties and weddings, I would often find out about new dance songs from people who made requests. Many of the songs were line dances like the Cupid Shuffle or Cha Cha Slide. Over the years, I was introduced to The Biker Shuffle, The Turbo Hustle, The Dougie and many others that way. I was always surprised at how they would fill the dance floor.
I remember someone asking for a song called Da Butt and I laughed. It was from a Spike Lee movie, but I had never heard of it. That week, I stopped by a DJ supply store and there on one of the many compilation CD’s they made was Da Butt by a group called EU. I bought it, took it home and gave it a listen.
It certainly had a funkiness to it and I could see how this might be something that people could dance to. It didn’t take long to find out because I had a wedding the following weekend. Once I started the song, the crowd screamed and got on the dance floor. Before I knew it, everyone was shaking their rear end. I would use this song a lot over the years.
I always think of one of my college instructors when I hear this because I DJ’d a birthday party for one of her kids and SHE was the one who asked me to play it.
I would often get out on the dance floor with these poster board signs I had made for my gigs. I had one that said “Oh-We-Oh. Whoa-Oh” and I would hold it up for audience participation during that part of the song. While it is not the most family friendly song, it did give me a chance to have some fun at a lot of DJ gigs.
Da Butt
I couldn’t let this year pass without touching on one of the big controversies of the year. In June of 1988, Gail Brewer-Giorgio released a book called “Is Elvis Alive?” Along with the book, there was a cassette tape with alleged phone conversations that Elvis had with someone long after he was supposed to have died.
This played right into the rumor in the music industry was that Elvis had faked his death. In the years following his death, there were many sightings of him (including my home state of Michigan – at a Kalamazoo Burger King), and in late 1988 record label LS Records released “Spelling on the Stone” to capitalize on the popularity of the phenomenon. According to LS Records owner Lee Stoller, who produced the song, his daughter Tammy received the recording in August 1988 from an anonymous man who arrived at the label’s offices in a limousine. After obtaining distribution rights, LS Records released the song on radio by the end of 1988, with the single’s release not crediting an artist. The song’s title refers to the fact that Presley’s middle name, Aron, is misspelled as “Aaron” on his tombstone, which was a common argument against his death at the time. The song features an uncredited vocalist with a delivery similar to Presley’s; it tells a first-person narrative, purportedly from his perspective, to suggest that he had faked his death.
Some people claim that the impersonator is actually a guy named Dan Willis, who recorded at LS Records. Others think it really is Elvis. I say Balderdash …
Bonus Song: Spelling On the Stone
1988 had so many great songs. There have been times I wonder if I should pick 15 instead of 10. I know that in future years, I will struggle to pick 10, so I won’t. What one of your favorite 1988 hits did I miss? Mention it in the comments.
Next week we move to 1989. The list isn’t as all over the place like this one and includes some great songs. Join me next week and we’ll give them a listen….
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.
I turned 15 in 1985. It was sophomore year and I had moved up from the Freshman band to the Concert/Marching band. It is the year that consisted of many of my favorite songs that I recently posted about in this week’s Turntable Talk blog. It was also the year that I went on my first date and my first dance. How did the music of 1985 play into my life? Let’s find out…
My first pick is a soulful tribute to two amazing singers who passed away in 1984. It is also the only hit that the Commodores had after Lionel Richie left the group. I am talking, of course, about Nightshift.
The song is a tribute to singers Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson. Marvin was 44 when he passed away, while Jackie was only 49. In 1974 the Righteous Brothers had a hit with Rock and Roll Heaven, where they picture fallen stars like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin forming a band in heaven. This was supposed to be a soul version where Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson are on heaven’s nightshift, playing some sweet sounds.
I love how the intro starts with that percussion lick and the smooth bass line that works its way to the vocal. It is such a funky, soulful and loving tribute to Marvin and Jackie – two legends!
Nightshift
As a sophomore, I ventured out of my comfort zone a bit and decided it was ok to go to high school dances. Mostly, the guys just hung out at a table and talked. However, after my first official date, I began actually wanting to go to dances with a female date. While I cannot remember for certain, I am pretty sure that one of my first dances ever with a girl was to Crazy For You by Madonna.
Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of hers. My brother, on the other hand, loved her! There are a few songs that I do like by her, and this is one of them. What I remember most about dancing to this song was that she was singing “crazy for you” and I wasn’t sure what kind of message that may or may not have been sending to my date. I was also thinking about making sure I was swaying the same way she was and NOT stepping on her toes. It had to be a very uncomfortable dance for her.
Fun Fact: Madonna reportedly only took one take to record this song.
This was recorded for the soundtrack to the wrestling film Vision Quest, which also featured a guest appearance by Madonna herself, who played a singer at a local restaurant. After the success of this song, the film was renamed Crazy For You in some European countries to capitalize on the song’s popularity.
Crazy For You
How does that saying go? Everything old is new again? I don’t know. What I do know is that Netflix is currently airing the 4th installment of the Beverly Hills Cop Franchise and I hear it is doing well. It was back in 1984 that Eddie Murphy first played Detroit Cop Axel Foley. The character’s name is what led to the title of my next song, Axel F.
Before the title was settled on, it went by a different name. During production of the movie, it known as the “Banana Theme,” as it was slated for a scene where Axel Foley shoves a banana in the tailpipe of police officers intending to pursue him. The composer was German musician Harold Faltermeyer and truly, this song was all him.
According to Wikipedia, he recorded the tune using five instruments: a Roland Jupite-8 provided the distinctive saw lead, a Moog modular synthesizer 15 provided the bass, a Roland JX-3P provided chord stab brasses, a Yamaha DX7 was used for the marimba sound, and a LinnDrum was used for drum programming. Faltermeyer played every single instrument.
He was also the musical director on Beverly Hills Cop and did the score for the film. The soundtrack went to #1 in the US and won a Grammy for Best Album Of Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special. The song topped out at #3.
We played this at a concert one year in band, and though it sounds pretty easy, it was a bit tougher than I anticipated. It may have been in a weird key. It was one of many fun numbers we played.
Axel F
There are some songs that when you hear them, you cannot help but feel happy. My next pick is one of those songs. I have rarely played this at a party or wedding where it didn’t cause people to just get up and dance.
Remember the feeling you got when you first found out that someone truly loved you? There was that feeling of joy that just overflows from you! You can feel that joy and excitement in the vocals by Katrina Leskanich in Walking on Sunshine. It just makes you feel good!
The wife of one of my second cousins threw him a birthday party I DJ’d. The song was on the “must play” list. I remember having a conversation about the song and she said that it was the kid of song that you should play the minute you wake up in the morning. She said that it would just set the mood for the day. She always seemed to be in good mood when I saw her, so maybe she did just that!
Songfacts says, The video got a lot of airplay on MTV. It shows the band hanging around London, with Katrina very colorful and bouncy, and her bandmates more subdued. She had to make her own sunshine, as there was none in London – it was a typically cloudy and cold day.
Katrina’s look was anti-glam, with tennis shoes and the kind of fashions you’d find at the mall. In interviews from this time, she often took shots at singers like Madonna and Pat Benatar for adopting more suggestive looks.
Teen boys didn’t seem to mind….
Take four major country superstars, all who are friends with each other, pitch them an old song and tell them they should record it together and you get one really neat song. That’s the basic story of how Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash became The Highwaymen.
Country legend Jimmy Webb wrote the song about a soul with incarnations in four different places in time and history: as a highwayman, a sailor, a construction worker on the Hoover Dam, and finally as a captain of a starship. Webb released his version in 1977, it was covered in 1979 by Glen Campbell, who took the song to Johnny Cash, who was recording with Nelson, Jennings and Kristofferson.
The story goes that the four were all together in Switzerland doing a television special and decided that they should do a project together. While the four were recording their first album, Johnny’s friend Marty Stuart played the song for Cash, saying it would be perfect for them. It had four verses, four souls, and four of them.
The song led to the name of their supergroup, their album, and of course, their first single. Each of the four verses was sung by a different performer: first Nelson as the highwayman, then Kristofferson as the sailor, then Jennings as the dam builder, and finally Cash as the starship captain. Webb later observed, “I don’t know how they decided who would take which verse, but having Johnny last was like having God singing your song.”
No personal story to go with this one, I just like it!
I am embarrassed to say that up until 1985, I had never seen a James Bond movie. I was familiar with the fact that Roger Moore played Bond. My mom would rent Bond films on occasion and also watch them on cable. Moore played a Bond-like version of himself in Cannonball Run in 1981, but I had never really seen him AS Bond.
So when a friend of mine asked if I wanted to go to the show with him we saw A View to a Kill. It was actually neat to see this in the theaters. I had often seen the Bond movie intro being parodied, but to see it kick off the film and to hear the song was all new to me. I was grateful to be able to see it.
Knowing Duran Duran and some of their songs, I was surprised that they did the theme song. The story of how they got it is interesting. Songfacts says: “according to the bassist John Taylor, was that he approached the longtime Bond producer, Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli, while extremely intoxicated when they were both at a party. He stated that he was a long time fan (Major Bond geek would be more accurate. An Aston Martin was said to be one of his first “rock star” purchases, and he frequently mentioned his Bond video collection in interviews) of the series, but the music for the last few movies had been mediocre. He then offered to have his band fix the problem and Broccoli took the idea under advisement.Being asked to perform the theme song for a James Bond movie is a great honor, but the requirement to include its title in the lyrics can be challenging. Just ask John Taylor. “To this day we are forever grateful that we didn’t get Quantum Of Solace,” he said.
It is the only theme from a Bond movie to hit #1 in America.
A View To A Kill
I’ve made it all the way to 1985 and have yet to feature a Prince song. Not that I don’t like him, he was a musical genius. I am still blown away by his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performance and his Superbowl Halftime Show. He was a talent, no doubt. My only real connection to him was that we play Let’s Go Crazy in Marching Band one year.
However, I can connect this one to me because it was on my 15th birthday that Prince released Raspberry Beret. Prince originally recorded “Raspberry Beret” in 1982, but re-worked it with his newly re-formed Revolution backing band.
At the time this was released, Prince was under fire from Tipper Gore during the notorious PMRC witch hunt, which placed two of his songs on the list of the “filthy 15.” So this is one of the songs where Prince started making his lyrics more family friendly. But if you really listen closely, you know that Prince still slipped in a “filthy” reference.
Raspberry Beret
1985 was the year that one of my favorite movies was released – Back to the Future. If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, I reference the movie a lot and have read my fair share of time travel novels. It is a masterpiece and I will always watch it when it is on.
When Marty realizes he’s going to be late for school and he leave’s Doc’s place on his skateboard, Huey Lewis and The News’ The Power of Love makes the perfect song to accompany the scene. How did Huey become involved?
The film’s director Robert Zemeckis wanted Lewis to do the song – Huey Lewis & the News were rising stars with a modern sound that worked well in the movie, which takes place in both 1955 and 1985. Lewis had never done film work and hesitated at first, since he didn’t want to write a song called “Back to the Future.” When Zemeckis told him that the song didn’t have to be about the movie, Lewis accepted the challenge.
All Back to the Future fans know that Lewis has an uncredited cameo in this movie. Lewis has an uncredited cameo in this scene, where he plays a teacher who is judging the auditions. An early scene in the film has Marty McFly and his band The Pinheads auditioning for the high school dance. Huey plays a teacher who is judging the auditions. The group plays the beginning of “The Power of Love,” but before Marty can sing a note, Lewis cuts them off, telling them, “I’m afraid you’re just too darn loud.”
The music video doesn’t contain scenes from the film, but does feature an appearance by Christopher Lloyd in character as Doc Brown. We see him pull up in the DeLorean outside of a club where Huey Lewis & the News are performing.
The Power of Love
Yesterday marked the 34th anniversary of the passing of Stevie Ray Vaughn. I debated posting one of his songs for Tune Tuesday, but opted for a more uplifting post.
I was late to the SRV party. I was introduced to him after he passed away. I marveled at his playing and his vocal abilities. I really fell in love with his music.
I wrote about this song before, probably for one of the Song Drafts we were doing. It is Stevie’s cover of the old Hank Ballard song, “Look at Little Sister.”
Look At Little Sister
My final pick is another fun song. It reminds me a lot of the Kinks Come Dancing (which I just wrote about for Max’s PowerPop blog) because of the sound of the opening keyboards.
The Dire Straits were coming off the success of Money For Nothing which really established the band on MTV and on Top 40 radio in America. The fourth single from their Brothers In Arms Album was Walk of Life.
Mark Knopfler wrote this song to celebrate the street buskers of London, hence the references to “Be-Bop-a-Lula” and “What’d I Say,” which were two standards that might be part of a singer’s repertoire in the mid-’80s. Before the lyrics kick in, Knopfler does a few “who-hoo”s, which help create a whimsical vibe. When he spoke with the BBC in 1989, he expressed some “woo-hoo” remorse. “There’s too many ‘woos’ at the beginning of ‘Walk of Life,'” he said. “I heard it on the radio the other day and thought, Oh my God! What was I doing that for?”
Walk of Life (US)
Walk of Life (UK)
What song defined 1985 for you?
Next week we’ll share some songs from 1986. As I look at the music from that year, there were some great music videos! The year will feature my high school class song, my first attempt at Karaoke – before there was Karaoke, and two fantastic cover songs!
Last week, he presented a blog of his favorite Beatles songs that were cover songs (songs originally done by other artists). This week, he looks at the other side of the coin. Here now, is his presentation of great covers of Beatles songs by other artists. I hope you enjoy it! Take it away, Max…
Beatle Songs By Others …
Hello everyone welcome back this week for the conclusion of the Beatlefest on Keith’s site. Today I’m going to list my favorite Beatle covers. Although I like these a lot…I usually still go with the Beatles version. There is one that I do like better than the original…and that is…well you will just have to read on. I did include some live versions of songs.
I added two at the bottom as runner ups but they just as well could have been in this list. Many songs could have been…depending on which day I was deciding. . I never thought about how many covers there were out there until Hanspostcard started to have a series on Beatle covers…there are a bunch! (KEITH: Hans posted some rare ones that I have never heard before!)
10: Aerosmith– Come Together...Aerosmith did a good job on this song. They didn’t stray too far at all from the original off of Abbey Road. This song was the one good thing about the movie Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band…there weren’t very many bright spots. Peter Frampton fighting Steven Tyler on film was also a keeper. (KEITH: I certainly love this one – but their cover of “I’m Down” is my favorite!)
9: Chris Cornell – You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away – Chris’s voice is incredible in this and it’s the way he phrases that I like so much…it’s a lot of depth and feel in his version. Eddie Vedder also has a good version. (KEITH: Great song, but I tend to lean toward the original)
8: Fats Domino – Lady Madonna – This song sounds like it was written just for Fats Domino. He did a great job. He did a wonderful job every time he covered the Beatles. (KEITH: Fats was one of the great influences of Beatles music. I would tend to agree that this really sounds more like a Fats song)
7: Emmylou Harris – For No One – I can listen to anything she sings but on this she re-worked the song in her own way and it works great. I was told about this cover by Aphoristical a year or so ago and ever since…I’ve wore it out. It puts a new light on the song. (KEITH: I have a buddy, Ken, who just loves Emmylou. Because of our many conversations about her, I stumbled on this one. Great voice.)
6: Stevie Wonder– We Can Work It Out – Stevie puts his incredible spin on this song and lifts it up. (KEITH: Love that Stevie really made this on his own!)
5: While My Guitar Gently Weeps – At the 2004 Hall of Fame Inductions you had Tom Petty, Dhani Harrison, Jeff Lynn, Steve Winwood, and Prince. Prince stole this performance with his amazing solo…you could tell Dhani (George Harrison’s son) was really enjoying it. (KEITH: When I went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a year or so ago, they played the video of this amazing song. Prince – WOW!)
4: Al Green – I Want To Hold Your Hand – I would have never put these two together but Al Green turns his version of I Want To Hold Your Hand into an Al Green song. (KEITH: How can you co wrong with Al Green + The Beatles?!)
3: Johnny Cash– In My Life – This version is heartbreaking to listen to knowing that Cash was looking hard at his own mortality. (KEITH: That was my thoughts exactly when I heard this cut. Johnny is VERY reflective in his vocal…)
2: Wilson Pickett– Hey Jude – Duane Allman was a studio musician at Muscle Shoals when he brought this up as a single to Wilson Pickett. The Beatles version was still on the charts at the time. No one wanted to do it but Wilson agreed when he heard Duane’s version. They re-worked it and it worked. After Eric Clapton heard this version he wanted to know who the guitar player was at the end of the song. That is how Eric found out about Duane Allman. (KEITH: The Wicked Mr. Pickett! This one has been a favorite of mine for some time. )
1: Joe Cocker– With A Little Help From My Friends – This is the one cover that I like better than the Beatles original. He turned the song into a show stopper. (KEITH: A Cocker Classic! I agree, Max. Such a powerful cut!)
Larkin and Poe – In My Life – Christian at christiansmusicmusings turned me on to. This one is a lovely version of In My Life. (KEITH: Have never heard this one before – but I like it!)
Aretha Franklin – Eleanor Rigby – She is the one and only Queen of Soul. My favorite female singer of all time. She turns this into a soul song. (KEITH: Everything she touched was gold! She was amazing! Great cut. I would say that Ray Charles version is equally as good!)
THANKS, MAX!
I want to take a moment and thank Max for taking the time to write for my blog. I guess I need to write my Beatles Blog now.
My last blog was 7 days ago. I had hoped to write for Tune Tuesday, I wanted to write a birthday blog for my wife, do a Top 10 song list for Dean Martin’s birthday and post a couple blogs as well, but I am a procrastinator. I was asked to speak at the annual sleep conference at the Greektown Casino last week. I had known my topic and the basic points I wanted to make since April. I compiled the list of goals and gave an overview of the talk and sent it to the folks who asked me to speak, but I procrastinated until the week of the talk to put it together. So, the past week has been spent outlining, planning, and editing my speech as well as creating the PowerPoint that was to accompany it.
During my radio career, I have stood in front of audiences of hundreds and thousands of people and introduced performers. It was nothing to do this. For this talk, which was to be in front of about 100-150 people, I was really nervous. I know why – I was speaking to a group of peers. I was going to get up and present a talk to people who have been doing what I do for many more years than me. I kept asking myself, “Who am I to be the one up here talking?! There are people in this audience who are WAY smarter than me!” Every one kept telling me I’d be fine, yet, I still worried – until I got there.
Once I walked in, I ran into friends from college, friends who I worked with at another sleep lab, co-workers and friends from my current sleep lab, vendors who I have known for some time, and many familiar faces. With each interaction with these people, the anxiety and nervousness faded quickly. Once I was introduced, and I had the microphone, it was easy as pie! It went very well, and many people who I had never met even came up to compliment me. It was a very cool day.
There was one thing that happened after the conference that is really the point of this blog. I’ll explain in a second. Something came up in my Facebook “memory” feed that I could apply to what happened, and also makes for a good blog post. So, here it is:
Four Things That Can Never Be Recovered
I won’t lie, I stole this from a friend who had posted it originally. I find this to be very powerful and thought provoking. So what are the four things? “The stone after the throw, the word after it’s spoken, the occasion after it’s missed, and the time after it’s gone.” I found myself reading this more than once, and thinking about each of these things. I wasn’t going to blog about it, but the more I thought about it, the more it kept telling me to write on it.
The Stone After The Throw / The Word After It’s Spoken
These two things go kind of hand in hand. When you hit someone with a stone it hurts (physically). When you say something out of anger, or without thinking how it might be taken by the person you are talking to it also hurts (emotionally).
Now, most of us are not out throwing stones at each other. However, we frequently act without thinking. We are prone to act or speak based on emotions. In many of those instances, we act or speak without really thinking about it. Words or actions happen before the possible consequences are even considered. All too often, we regret having said or done something knowing (after the fact) that it was hurtful.
This relates to the instance that happened to me after the conference. It didn’t involve anyone at the conference. I won’t go into much detail, but it was after an interaction I had with someone. I had texted that person prior to my arrival, so this may have been how the “stone” wound up being thrown at me. As I left that person, my phone “dinged”. It was a text message, from the person I had just left not 60 seconds earlier. I will spare you the profanity that was in it, and let you fill in the blanks. It read, “Keith is such a M___ F____ P___ A___ D____ B___!”
So, me being the guy I am, I responded with “Yes, but how do you really feel?” For just a minute, put yourself in their shoes. I don’t know what they felt, perhaps panic at first, knowing that they totally meant it for someone else to read? Maybe they felt stupid? Maybe they felt regret? Maybe they didn’t feel anything. I don’t know. It took a few minutes for them to respond back.
Their response basically said “Sorry” and that it “was meant for someone else.” It went on to say not to “take it seriously” and to have a good rest of the weekend. I did not respond to this. After a while later, another text came to me saying how wrong it was to text me that or “anyone for that matter.” The person said that they “were trying to be funny” and admitted that it was “a mean thing to do.” They said it was “weighing on” their conscience and that they were “really embarrassed and sorry.” They also said how it was not very “Christian-like.”
I chose not to respond to this either. I certainly could have, but I didn’t. I was reminded of a Bible verse that I heard a pastor teach on at church one Sunday. The verse is James 1:19 which reads, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”
The point of the entire message that week was basically this: when we listen to one another, when we stop and think about what we are going to say, when we are slow to respond, and slow to anger – less “stones are thrown” and less hurtful “words are spoken”. Imagine how much easier things would be if we not only thought about the words we want to say, but how those words will be taken by the other person!
My best friend, sent me this today. It fits:
The Occasion After It’s Missed / The Time After It’s Gone
I had a friend who was a big Prince fan. He loved his music, but never seemed to find the time to see him in concert. He talked about it all the time and would often say, “I’ll get tickets the next time he is in town.” When Prince died in 2016, he was shocked and to this day says he regrets not buying tickets to his show. “I never thought he’d not be around! He was so young. I should have had more chances to see him!” The occasion came and went (a few times) and he missed it.
I have many regrets about occasions I have missed. Not just concerts, but other things. I regret not seeing my grandmother more because I was afraid to see her with cancer. I regret not calling my friend, only to find out he had passed away. I regret things that I may have said to friends while loaded up with medications. I regret many occasions that came, and I missed them.
There are hundreds of songs about time. I could probably fill an entire blog about songs that reflect on the fact that “time flies”. This is an easy thing to see – in hind sight. It’s never so easy to see in real time. It seems like yesterday that my oldest son was born, yet next year he is a Senior in high school! “Where did the time go?” we ask ourselves. Kenny Chesney’s song says, “Don’t Blink.” Isn’t that the truth?! One minute your child is a baby and the next thing you know, they’re graduating. It’s eye opening – and emotional!
In life, and I have certainly been guilty of this, we often fail to prioritize what really is important. Finding a balance between your work and home life is a huge challenge for many, but it is extremely important. As I look back, I can think of many times work took priority over other things. Because of that, I missed out on some pretty big things.
Employers are to blame as well, as many of them claim to be an environment where an employee’s family life is important, but their actions say otherwise. I am always overjoyed to read of a place of employment that allows a new father to have some time off with their new baby and spouse. It’s a rare thing, though. I have seen people be denied vacation requests, despite the fact that they have the time to take. They are told that too many other have that time off, or some other form of office politics. Some people don’t even get to take their vacations, and if they do, they are working during it. How sad is this?!
Time waits for no one! It continues second by second. Hour by hour. Year by year. Sometimes it seems to drag, but most of the time, it seems to fly by. Use it wisely.
Time management should be something that encompasses the balance of your life daily. “I don’t have time to exercise,” “I can’t find a way to fit that in to my schedule,” or “I should have made time for that” are all things that we hear people say daily. Guess what? YOU have control over your time and what you do with it. Manage it and make time for the important things.
Yes, you still have to work, but you can chose to work only when working. Give your all when you are at work. Do your job. Do it well. Manage your time so you get everything done when it needs to be done. Don’t bring your work home with you. You aren’t on the clock at home. One of the best things I did was to disconnect my work e-mail from my phone. I check it when I am at work. Why would I want to think about work, when I am home with my wife? Why would I sit on my e-mail when I could listen to my youngest tell me about how much fun he had on a field trip? No, I leave my work at work. (By doing this, I am actually more productive at work, and less stressed at home!)
Outside of work, make time for family and friends. Do what you enjoy doing. De-stress. Live life. Do things that make you happy. “Life was meant to be lived” someone once told me. It’s true. Up until recently, I often found myself wishing I had done things. I found myself regretting not doing something. I also regret doing some things that took away from the important things. This has to stop.
With all the things that have changed over the past few years, it is time to make sure I do not look back with regrets. I want to be able to look back and smile at all the things I accomplished. I want to remember all the good things and people in my life. I want to say that I lived life where I am not ashamed of wasting time on things that were unimportant. I want to “waste” time doing things I love. John Lennon once said, “Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.”
Make time for the moments in life that you don’t want to miss! Time cannot be recovered once it is gone.
If you get anything out of this blog today, I hope it is this: Life has many moments to offer us, no matter how old we are. So, moving forward consider your actions, think before you speak, enjoy life’s occasions, and utilize your time to the fullest.
Oh, and here is an occasion NOT missed – a great shot of the sunset at the fair I took my sons to this weekend. Beautiful!!!
For our anniversary, my wife and I wanted to plan a little getaway to celebrate. Neither one of us had too much PTO in our “banks” at work, so we decided on a weekend trip. During the planning the destinations changed frequently. Originally, we had hoped to head back for another trip to Florida, but due to the lack of time available, we decided on something a bit closer to home.
There was talk of going to Nashville and maybe catching a show at the Grand Ole Opry. Then there was talk of Gatlinburg, where my mom so often talked about. I think we even chatted about Pennsylvania, too. Eventually, we decided that Chicago was where we wanted to go, but then realized that it was St. Patrick’s Day weekend, and we figured it might be just a tad crazy (although seeing the river turned green would have been cool.
Cleveland??
To be honest, I am not even sure how we decided on Cleveland, Ohio. I had mentioned that my dad had gone to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and said it was cool. I started to look at things in Cincinnati. There was a lot to do there, but why wasn’t the Hall of Fame coming up in any of my searches? I knew that Cincy was close to Louisville, KY and thought that we could maybe do something there, too. I had gone as far as to drop a radio buddy a note to say we were gonna be down there and asked for good restaurants to eat at … only to then realize the Hall of Fame was in Cleveland!
Now that we had cleared that up, we were set for Cleveland. Now, I will be the first to admit “Cleveland,Ohio” as the answer to “Where did you and your wife spend your first wedding anniversary?” is not at all romantic. Many people laughed when I told them. Here is the thing about my wife and I, the destination really didn’t matter – it was simply the fact that we were going to be together. To me, this is just one of the reasons I love her. We can be content with just having time with each other, no matter where we are, or what we are doing.
We have made it a tradition to go to restaurants that local wherever we go. If we can go there at home, we’ll go there at home! By doing this, we have really been treated to some amazing food. We always try to find a good steak house or something very unique to the city we are in and we have yet to be disappointed.
The Hall of Fame
Personally, I think Sam loves watching me get excited about stuff like this. We both love museums, but I must have been like a little kid on his birthday during this trip! I had, of course, seen pictures of the Hall of Fame, but it was something else to be standing in front of it. The big red block letters that sit upon the sidewalk read “LONG LIVE ROCK”. As I walked up the steps, there are phoney concert speakers erected by the hand rails. The excitement builds as you walk in.
As you enter, you walk into a huge foyer/lobby. The gift shop is to your right, to the left a cafe/coffee shop, and in front of you there is an escalator to take you down to purchase tickets. After buying our tickets, you get ready to enter and above the doors the perfect AC/DC quote to welcome you: “For those about to rock …”
Walking into the main exhibition hall, the first thing I noticed were pictures of John Lennon and Ray Charles on the wall. The first thing I am drawn to is a glass case containing Bill Haley’s guitar. Bill is often credited as being the singer of the first “rock and roll” song – Rock Around the Clock. There is a picture of him playing it in the case as well. I am not sure why I was so taken in by it, but I was.
The next thing we saw was a line of bass guitars that belong to Geddy Lee of Rush. I didn’t count , but there had to be like a dozen of them. The information said that this was only part of his massive collection.
The Roots
One thing I was thrilled to see here was the fact that the “roots” of Rock and Roll were well represented. Rock really evolved from a combination of Gospel, R&B, Bluegrass, Country, Folk, and Blues music. Each of those genres was represented here. Among my favorite things I saw: a suite belonging to Hank Williams Sr.; Louis Jordan’s music folder with his music and cue sheets; stuff from Muddy Waters, BB King, and Mahalia Jackson; Ray Charles sunglasses; Carl Perkins Guitar; salutes to Johnny Otis, Big Joe Turner, and Sam Cooke and so much more. The roots of rock were so well represented. Without these people and the genres of music, there would be no rock and roll.
Elvis
There is a pretty cool section devoted to Elvis, who was one of the first 10 artists inducted into the Hall of Fame. The Hall has a standing agreement with Graceland in Memphis (which is a museum in itself) and they send memorabilia to them often, so the exhibit changes often. There was a very cool motorcycle that was custom-built for Elvis. His gold sequins suit is there, and a jukebox which was given to him as a gift from RCA Records – it contains only Elvis records. Also on display was a double Gibson guitar which he played in his film Spinout.
The Summer of Love
With the 50th anniversary of the “Summer of Love”, there were some very cool things here. I saw groovy outfits from the Mama’s and the Papa’s, clothing from Jimi Hendrix, and the HUGE mixing board that was used to record some of Jimi’s music.
On thing I really liked to see was the various things that song lyrics were written on. There were quite a few original pieces of paper where the beginnings of songs were scribbled. There were also plenty of hotel pads of paper with lyrics on them. Loved seeing where changes were made to lyrics.
Cities and Sounds
I loved that there was a section of the hall that saluted cities and sounds. There was a section devoted to Memphis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London and Liverpool, Seattle, and of course, Detroit.
In the Memphis section, there were plenty of neat things from Sun Records. Johnny Cash, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison all recorded there. To stand in front of Roy Orbison’s glasses and guitar was pretty awesome. My earliest musical memories are of my dad playing Roy’s music for me.
A nice tribute to Motown is here with stuff from Barry Gordy, The Supremes (you can see some of their dresses), Smokey Robinson, and the Temptations are all here. They were playing the episode of To Tell The Truth with Barry Gordy as we walked through this section.
The Beatles and the Rolling Stones each have a nice section at the Hall. I thought Mick Jagger of the Stones was taller, but standing by some of his outfits, he’s shorter than I thought. There is the Asher family piano that Paul McCartney donated, some of John Lennon’s outfits, and the handwritten lyrics to “In My Life”. A very cool documentary was playing in their section as well.
I jumped ahead a bit because the next section was London and Liverpool. There were some very neat things from the Yardbirds, Peter and Gordon, Herman’s Hermits and the Zombies too. All in all a nice salute to the British Invasion.
San Fran featured stuff from The Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin, while LA featured stuff from The Eagles, Jackson Brown, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. One cool thing here was a duffle bag full of hotel keys. I don’t recall, but I think it said it belonged to one of the Eagles. They basically kept the hotel key (and keychain) from every place they stayed while on tour. The bag was stuffed full of some very cool looking keychains!
This section also had tributes to grunge music, punk music and a section called “Rave On” which focused on the “pioneers” of rock. Those pioneers included Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, The Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly. Soul Music was also spotlighted here with some awesome suits from James Brown, stuff from Aretha Franklin, pieces of the wreckage from Otis Redding’s plane crash, and Sam and Dave. Featured in the soul section were two amazing things – guitars from Donald “Duck” Dunn and Steve “The Colonel” Cropper. They played on almost every Atlantic and Stax record. They were members of Booker T and the MG’s, and also played with the Blues Brothers. Very cool to see!!!
Don’t worry metal heads, there was a section for Heavy Metal too. Oh, and a section for Rap, as well.
Protests
When Rock and Roll started to make waves, it wasn’t too popular with folks. We tend to forget the hatred toward the genre, but they had plenty of newscasts about burning records, and protests that happened. It was weird to watch the hatred toward the Beatles and read hate mail to the Rolling Stones. Other artists that were discussed in this section were Frank Zappa and ELO.
On the Radio
As a radio guy, it was cool to be able to walk up to an interactive touch screen and select a region of the US and then listen to old airchecks of DJ’s from different eras. Naturally, I had to listen to some of the Detroit personalities: Dick Purtain, Robin Seymour, and The Electrifying Mojo! There were plenty of familiar names from all over the states and it was nice to get to listen to their stuff too.
The Power of Rock
On the third level, there was a wall with each “class” inducted into the Hall of Fame by year. You could also go to a touch screen and search by class, by year, or by artist, and listen to their music. SO many great songs!!!
The Power of Rock is a short film by Jonathan Demme which features many performances from past Hall of Fame inductions. So many stars and so many great songs were in this film. The theater had a light show and great sound for the film and it was almost like you were watching a concert live. The film ends with Prince’s guitar solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps – WOW! Forgot how amazing that was! They also had some of the great quotes on the walls of the hallway that you left the theater by. Prince’s outfit from that show and other outfits were there as well.
Rock on TV
It was also very cool to see some of the TV show memorabilia on this level. You could go and record something about your favorite singer or album in special booths. It was pretty cool to stand in front of Dick Clark’s American Bandstand podium! His microphone was in a glass case with other things like the set design for the Beatles appearance on Ed Sullivan. They had TV cameras there, Don Cornelius’ suit from Soul Train, outfits from the Jackson Five and Sonny & Cher and the coat worn by Davy Jones of the Monkees that he wore on The Brady Bunch. There was also some cool musically related stuff from Saturday Night Live, and from various music videos we all watched on MTV. It was neat to see Paul Shaffer’s keyboard that he played for so many years on the Late Show with David Letterman.
On the Radio – LIVE
One thing I didn’t realize was that Sirius XM broadcasts their “Classic Vinyl” station out of the Hall of Fame. Rachel Steele was on air when we went through. There is a glass window that allows you to look into the studio and watch them broadcast. I actually felt bad for her. One thing radio people like is the fact that they can go in to work without really worrying about what to wear, because….who is going to see you!? Whoever is on the air here, really has to “doll up” every day.
Over all, I loved every second of my visit here! Any music lover would enjoy themselves!! If you have never been …. you have to!
Christmas in March
The final stop on the trip was The Christmas Story House. It is the house featured in the holiday classic. They renamed the street “Cleveland Street” in honor of the movie. The Leg Lamp proudly sits in the front window and the Bumpass House is next door.
This is such an inexpensive treat! The house looks a little different on the inside, but they have restored much of it to be exactly like it looks in the film, which took a bit because there were a few owners since the movie.
We were allowed to take as many pictures as we liked. There was a guide who took us through the house and told some stories. You can see the bathroom where Ralphie solves Little Orphan Annie’s secret message, you can see the many plugs the tree was plugged into, pick up the phone that Mrs. Parker calls Flick’s mom on, see the boy’s room, and see the damper in the kitchen that billows black smoke because of the “clinker” furnace.
From the backyard you can see the steel mill (still in operation), which helped Jean Sheppard (the author) pick that particular house for the film. Across the street is a museum with the actual Red Rider BB gun used in the film, outfits from the cast, Darren McGavin’s plaster life mask (used for make up and such), plenty of behind the scenes pictures, and the Old Man’s car. The gift shop is full of great items and yes, you can purchase a pink bunny suit or a leg lamp (in various sizes).
Sam told me she’d buy me a bunny suit, but only if I wore it every Christmas! Incidentally, if you have the $$, you can spend the night in the house or next door at the Bumpass house.
The trip was short, but full of good memories. I love that we were able to do it and I love that we got to spend time with each other. It was the perfect anniversary trip.
In my current full-time job, sometimes you get called off because patients cancel their appointments. This can really suck, especially when you’ve slept all day in preparation to work all night long. At any rate, on nights off, I usually read or write. I had a bout of writer’s block and so I went to my Facebook friends and asked for questions they’d like answered. They never fail to ask questions that force me to think, dig deep in my memory, or get creative.
Question #1 – Denise
Denise’s question is radio related. “On average, how many of the songs you spin (love that she is speaking DJ here!) take you back to an exact moment in your memories and is there one particular song you avoid playing for that exact reason?”
ANSWER: One of the things I love about music is that there are many songs that so exactly what you state in your question – “take you back to an exact moment”. With the station I work on today, I would guess that 2-4 songs a show can do that. If I were at a different format (like classic rock, country, or oldies) it would be more. We play a lot of current songs where I am now, with a sprinkling of 80’s and 90’s. The older songs can certainly do that, for example, a song from 1999 or Little Red Corvette by Prince can take me back to a high school dance.
I did country radio for almost half of my radio career, so there are plenty of songs that I can remember hearing for the first time. I was the music director and had a hand in helping the program director pick the songs to play on the air. My job was to listen to every new song that an artist put out. It was exciting to hear a song and get a gut feeling about whether it would be a hit or not. Sometimes I was right, sometimes I was wrong. I would think many of those songs I can remember hearing them for the first time while sitting in my office.
Now regarding the second half of your question, all stations have a play list. Sometimes, you have the freedom to play requests, but usually, you are playing from the list of songs that was scheduled for you on your shift. That being said, there is one song that I have to turn down the volume when it plays – Daniel Powter’s Bad Day.
That was the song that was the ring tone on my mom’s cell phone in the last few month’s of her life. I guess she used it as an anthem. She battled breast cancer for 10 years. She’d been through it all – chemotherapy, radiation, and countless painful procedures and tests. She had good days and bad days – more bad than good. She would still keep that positive attitude and often say “Don’t sweat the small stuff”, but cancer isn’t small stuff. She related to that song. “You had a bad day”… but she kept fighting. She was one of the bravest and strongest women I have ever known. I have to turn down the speakers, because when I hear it – I hear mom’s phone…
Question #2 – Marcia
Marcia and I have known each other since elementary school. Our mom’s knew each other and it is no surprise that her question is about my mom. “What’s your favorite memory of your mom?”
This is really a difficult question. Maybe for some people they could pick just one, but for me, there are so many special moments. I could mention the many nights that she stayed up with what my dad called “The Warren Boys Club” and played pinochle until all hours of the night or how she used to stay up late on Saturday nights watching terrible Kung Fu movies on Channel 20. I could also mention her falling asleep in the waiting room at the hospital as she waited for Dante’ to be born, a moment that is caught forever on film. Instead, I have narrowed it down to three.
These three memories, in no particular order, are definitely in the top ten memories of mom. To answer your question, I allowed myself to jot down three memories and stopped there. Perhaps there are others that just weren’t lucky enough to pop into my head on command, but these three did immediately, so they appear as the answer to your question.
Mom memory #1 – I was 20, soon to be 21, when I moved to Ludington for a radio job. I had ever been away from home before. It was scary and yet my folks were supportive of the move. Mom was pretty strong, even though I think it bugged her more than she let on. After the first week, I think she missed me more than she wanted to tell me. She used to send me a letter or a card a week. It was usually something silly just to say she was thinking about me and that she loved me.
I remember the first night I was there. I had a small apartment and every single noise kept me awake. I remember the second day I was there, she called to ask how I was. As much as I tried to keep it together, I couldn’t. She listened to my cry and told me she was proud of me and that everything was going to be ok. I remember coming home from the radio station at night and having messages on the answering machine from her. What I wouldn’t give to have those letters and cards (ruined in a flooded basement) or the answering machine tape!
Mom memory #2 – Dante’ was 4 and loved trains. He watched Thomas the Train all the time. When mom found out that Thomas was coming near my house, she bought tickets for all of us. This was probably in August, so it was two months before she passed away. She was sometimes using a walker or a wheel chair to get around, but she was not going to let anything stop her from going for a ride with Thomas and Dante’! As tired as she was, she sat next to him and sang the Thomas theme with him. The day was captured in some of my favorite pictures, and even though the day is foggy for Dante’ today, he still looks at those pictures and remembers grandma.
Mom memory #3 – One year after mom passed away, my brother came home. We were all going to go to the cemetery on the anniversary. While at my dad’s house, I believe it was Chris who found a stack of envelopes. Each envelope was addressed to members of the family. They were letters that mom had wrote to each of us. The letter to written long before Dante’ was born, so he wasn’t mentioned in it. There was, however, a wonderful message from mom to me. “Know that I love you” was the first line written to me. It was a wonderful message from beyond the grave, that I still have locked away, so that I can read it whenever I need to.
Question #3 (in two parts) – Stephanie
Leave it to my friend Stephanie to give me a serious and silly question. (1) “What comedy or drama movie would you make into a musical and what would be the name?” and (2) “What is something you recently realized that you can’t believe you didn’t realize earlier?”
Part 1 – As I thought about some of my favorite movies, I laughed at the possibility of them being made into a musical. As you know Young Frankenstein was made into a musical, and so was Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The Blues Brothers already is considered a musical, so I started to look at a few others.
Smokey and the Bandit would be hard to make into a musical. However, I think it would be fun to have Buford T Justice sing “Sum Bitch” in a song! Airplane! is a comedy classic, but how do you make this into a musical. Animal House might be one you could do as a musical – I could see Flounder singing about Bluto giving him that name or Dean Wormer singing a rant about Double Secret Probation. I guess if I had to pick one, it would be Johnny Dangerously…because the name of the show would be easy: Johnny Dangerously: The Fargin’ Musical!
Part 2 – I have an answer to this question that is kind of obvious, but because I am a bigger person, I will not use that answer. What I will answer is this: I realize now, just how fake some people can be. It is sad to see how people are quick to judge you on the thoughts or stories of others. They make their judgments based on those things without ever coming to you to see if they are true or hear your side of the story. It is sad that so many people will pretend to be your friend and then as soon as you leave the room, begin to talk about you, label you and judge you.
I realize now that there are some people who are not happy unless they are making others unhappy. I realize now that there are people who feel the need to be in control of every situation, no matter what, and have to get their way. They will say things to make you believe things that will work in their favor, even if it means alienating you from friends and family.
The biggest realization I have had recently is that before you can make others happy – YOU have to be happy. It is not worth living a life to make others happy while you, yourself, continue a downward spiral into sadness, unhappiness, and depression. You must weed out negative people in your life and live happily and positively! You should be happy in your job, happy in your relationships, and happy with yourself. The hardest, and best, decision I ever made was to find happiness and surround myself with it.
Question #4 – Connie
Connie asks another question that is difficult to answer. Connie and I often spoke of Stanley nickels and Schrute Bucks in the office, and now she asks “What is your favorite episode of The Office?”
While there are MANY episodes that continue to make me laugh out loud, it is hard to pick just one. At the same time, some episodes consist of brief moments that make me laugh like hell, but the rest of the episode isn’t as strong.
If I had to name a few episodes off the top of my head, I would start with Diversity Day. We truly get a sense of Michael Scott and just how awkward he is in this episode. The uncomfortable situations that he often creates really start to show with this episode. Next I would say The Deposition. Classic Michael/Jan tension. The Dinner Party is also a great episode – the awkward relationship that Michael and Jan have is showcased here (snip snap snip snap!).
The Dundies is just a great episode! The thought of an office party – well, an awards show – and Chili’s while real customers are trying to eat is hilarious. So many great things about this episode. Threat Level Midnight is another one I liked because it showcased some cast members who hadn’t been on the show for a while, and it shows you the incredibly bad movie Michael wrote.
Scenes I could watch over and over and over:
Michael screaming “No” over and over when Toby returns
Jim’s spot on impression of Dwight – Bears, Beats, Battlestar Galactica
Kevin’s famous chili
The Fire Drill scene (“save Bandit!”)
Question #5 – Hope
Hope and I talk music a lot. She’s a Beatle fan and played trumpet in band. It is no surprise that her question is musical. “Are there specific songs that remind you of your childhood? If so, which ones and why?”
Absolutely! Growing up, my dad played in a wedding band, so I heard him play a lot of songs and was exposed to a lot of genres of music. One of the first songs I remember was “Dream Baby” by Roy Orbison. My dad had it on a vinyl LP and I asked him to play it all the time.
My friend, Jeff, had this album of novelty songs called “Dumb Ditties”. Every one of those songs cracks makes me think of when we were kids listening to it. Dumb songs like “I’m a Nut”, “Gimme Dat Ding”, “Ahab The Arab”, “Purple People Eater” and “Charlie Brown” were on it as I remember.
Anything of Willie Nelson’s Stardust album and Johnny Paycheck’s Greatest Hits (Volume 2) makes me think of summers at my grandparent’s trailer up in Caseville. There is a blog I wrote about an old 8 track that is full of songs that remind me of road trips to Caseville, too.
I remember many songs from 1988 and my senior year of high school – Wild Wild West by Escape Club, Don’t Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin, and Bad Medicine by Bon Jovi Come to mind. I remember buying Huey Lewis and the News Sports album for I Wanna New Drug. Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley, Need You Tonight by INXS, Rock Steady by the Whispers, and The Final Countdown by Europe were all songs I remember from high school dances.
I remember the first slow dance I ever danced to was Crazy for You by Madonna. I remember wondering if I was doing it right. I mean, I was literally swaying back and forth. “Is this right?!” We used to go to dances and just stand around and BS. When I was asked to dance, I really had NO idea what I was doing!
Question #6 – Joe
Joe and I have been friends since Jr. High. We met in first hour band class. His question is “How well do you remember that day we all met in junior high in the band room?”
I don’t recall much. It was the first day of junior high and I remember being scared to death. I remember Steve, Kevin, John, and Joe. Yes, there were others, but those are the ones I remember from the beginning. As far as the first day, I don’t recall much. I remember getting chair assignments and lockers, but that’s about it. The first day wasn’t the “…wanna be friends?” day, was it? Your memory may be better than mine, so please feel free to fill in the gaps.
Conclusion
This is the second blog that I have written based on the questions that friends have asked me. It’s actually something I really enjoy. Thanks to those friends who served as the “thought starters” for this blog. I hope I answered your questions and you enjoyed reading this as much as I did thinking about the answers and writing them.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 