Some questions linger in the mind, constantly bubbling up to occupy your thoughts when you least expect. For me, they are questions like: What makes a creative person creative? What gives an individual the ability to write songs or produce great art? And, perhaps most important, just what was it that motivated people whose careers [...]
Archive for the ‘Music videos’ Category
An Elton John Interlude
Posted in Music, Music videos, tagged Elton John, Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters, Music, Music videos on January 29, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
I’m not a huge Elton John fan. I found his later, over-the-top Liberace-style phase off-putting — but I think his early work is really, really good. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters is one of my favorite songs from that era, with its beautiful melody and cryptic yet evocative lyrics. Even now, I can’t walk into [...]
Ziggy’s 65th
Posted in Music, Music videos, tagged All the Young Dudes, Changes, David Bowie, Diamond Dogs, Mott the Hoople, Music, Music videos, Rock 'N Roll, Space Oddity, The Jean Genie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars on January 8, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Happy birthday today to David Bowie. Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, and The Thin White Duke turns 65 today. Bowie is an interesting character for a lot of reasons and has produced a lot of memorable music. Bowie wrote All The Young Dudes — the epic song from the legendary band Mott the Hoople — and [...]
Dobie Gray Drifts Away
Posted in Music, Music videos, tagged Dobie Gray, Drift Away, Music, Music videos on December 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I was saddened to read of the passing of Dobie Gray, the singer and musician most famous for the classic song Drift Away. Drift Away was recorded when I was in high school, and it almost immediately became, and for nearly 40 years has remained, a staple of FM radio playlists. Everyone seemed to like [...]
Offered Without Comment — An American Tune
Posted in America, Ipods, Music, Music videos, tagged America, American Tune, iPod classic, Music, Music videos, Paul Simon on November 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I’m working steadily on my iPod rebuilding project, moving through the iTunes library from A to Z. I’m up to P. I just now listened once again to Paul Simon’s epic, brilliant American Tune — and it spoke to me again, as it always does, even though it was first recorded more than 35 years [...]
More Of The Monkees
Posted in Music, Music videos, tagged A Hard Day's Night, Bobby Sherman, Help!, I'm A Believer, Last Train To Clarksville, Music, Music videos, Pleasant Valley Sundy, the Beatles, The Monkees, The Partridge Family, Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day on October 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve been working on the months-long task of rebuilding my iPod after my old iPod crashed. I began with artists whose name starts with A and I’ll keep going until I reach ZZ Top. I’ve just gotten to the middle of the Ms, and I’ve realized — again — how much I enjoy listening to [...]
Nevermind, For 20 Years
Posted in Music, Music videos, tagged Music, Music videos, Nevermind, Nirvana on September 24, 2011 | 1 Comment »
On September 24, 1991 — 20 years ago, today — Nirvana’s Nevermind was released. From its classic cover, with the naked, floating baby reaching for the dollar bill on the fish hook, to the gritty, stunning music it contained, Nevermind burst onto the musical, and cultural, scene with the force of an A-bomb. Nevermind brought [...]
Country Music, The Merle Haggard Way
Posted in America, Music, Music videos, tagged America, Country Music, George Jones, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Music, Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down on September 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I love country music. I’m not talking about the modern stuff that sounds like pop music, even though its sung by some poser wearing a cowboy hat and boots. No, I’m talking about the country music of the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, when singers like Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, and Merle [...]
Heat Wave
Posted in Columbus, Music, Music videos, weather, tagged Columbus, Heat Wave, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Motown, Music, Music videos, weather on June 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
It has been brutally hot in Columbus the last few days, with the mercury nudging uncomfortably close to the triple digits. When I left the office tonight, heat seemed to radiate from the buildings, the street, the alley, and the very air. I felt like panting like a dog. Instead, I thought of the classic [...]
Obscure Bands And Great Songs: The Trashmen And Surfin’ Bird
Posted in Music, Music videos, tagged Annette Funicello, beach movies, Dick Dale, Frankie Avalon, Music, Music videos, Obscure Bands and Great Songs, surf music, Surf Rock, Surfin' Bird, The Trashmen on April 4, 2011 | 1 Comment »
In the early ’60s, before the British invasion, American popular music was wide open. You had Elvis and Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chubby Checker, Connie Francis and Lesley Gore. You had girl groups and boy groups and novelty songs. And, emanating from somewhere deep in the American psyche, you had this odd, guitar [...]
Disco Bowling At The 2011 Salvino
Posted in America, Columbus, Music, Music videos, sports, tagged AC DC, America, Billie Jean, bowling, Carmen Salvino, Columbus, disco bowling, Justin Bieber, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, Music, Music videos, Peter Frampton, Sawmill Lanes, sports on March 12, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Last night the firm held its bowling tournament, the 2011 version of the Carmen Salvino Akron-Canton Invitational, at Sawmill Lanes in northwest Columbus. From that one experience, it appears that Friday night kegling is alive and well in Columbus, Ohio. This is not bowling as Grampa Neal would recognize it. The only common touchstones are [...]
Obscure Bands And Great Songs: Blues Image And Ride Captain Ride
Posted in Music, Music videos, tagged Blues Image, Music, Music videos, Obscure Bands and Great Songs, Ride Captain Ride on February 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The year was 1970, and the song of the moment was called Ride Captain Ride. It cut through the boring sounds on the AM radio like a diamond on glass. You listened to the song and thought: Who are these guys? You got the sense that this was a band that was tight and going [...]
Obscure Bands And Great Songs: The Cyrkle And Red Rubber Ball
Posted in Music, Music videos, tagged Music, Music videos, Obscure Bands and Great Songs, Paul Simon, Red Rubber Ball, the Beatles, The Cyrkle on January 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The Cyrkle recorded the best upbeat break-up song ever — Red Rubber Ball — but who knows anything about them? They seem like just another of those ’60s bands with a kind of “psychedelic” name, like Vanilla Fudge or the Strawberry Alarm Clock. But this is a band with another interesting accomplishment: they were the [...]
Obscure Bands And Great Songs: Red Rider And Lunatic Fringe
Posted in Music, Music videos, tagged Lunatic Fringe, Music, Music videos, Obscure Bands and Great Songs, Red Rider on January 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Who was Red Rider, and how did they come up with a great song like Lunatic Fringe? The greatness of the song starts, of course, with its title. The phrase Lunatic Fringe absolutely reeks of fear, paranoia, and danger. And then the song reinforces that feel with a lonely, ominous intro that conjures up images [...]
Miles Ahead
Posted in Family, Music, Music videos, tagged Family, Miles Greene, Music, Music videos, the Beatles on January 21, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Our nephew Miles was recorded live on January 17, 2011 at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco. He performs the Beatles’ Don’t Let Me Down in front of an enthusiastic (albeit shirt-oriented), singalong crowd. I’m impressed not only by Miles’ talent, but also by his easy manner in front of a crowd. Way to go, [...]
