Music

Great artist I just got into. A country artist with actual working class songs.

Today in the Italian Republic they're commemorating the 79^th^ annual Day of Liberation from the nazi-fascists in 1945. The linked song, Bella Ciao is the de facto anthem for the Italian resistance and, according to Wikipedia…

Versions of "Bella ciao" continue to be sung worldwide as a hymn of freedom and resistance.

So, raise a glass to the original antifascists, raise your middle finger to those that would appropriate this song for venal commercial gains and who would reduce it to mere vapid entertainment and raise a clenched fist to those who would atttempt to drag us back to those times when "the trains ran on time."

…which begs linking to one of McSweeney's Top 20 articles of 2023.

The-Future-Is-Digital BONUS:

• Nicki Minaj ft. Beyoncé - Feeling Myself

• Carly Rae Jepsen - Party For One

• Britney Spears - Touch of My Hand

• Cyndi Lauper - She Bop

The Beat Goes On…And On…And On…And On…And On…

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It's-Got-To-Be-Funky! BONUS:

• Eli "Paperboy" Reed - Cut Ya Down, LIVE at Union Pool!

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Stay sick, scratch glass, turn blue, climb walls…but don't get caught!

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Okay, okay, okay. We all know for some time now that Cleveland's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has as much to do with the art form itself as, say, I.M. Pei has with Brazilian Capoeira or Donald Trump has to do with democracy, but really? I'm reading the Freep's coverage (alt link via archive.is) on the 2024 inductees and once again, right off the bat, they're off on the wrong foot…

• Announcing the 2024 inductees live on American Idol?!
• Cher? Dave Matthews Band?! Kool & the Gang?? Mary J. Blige, The Queen of Hip-Hop??? A Tribe Called Quest?!?! Look, I have absolutely nothing against any of the aforementioned artistes—who doesn't love Kool & The Gang?—but since when are these performers considered Rock 'N Roll? Yes, it's years now that this distinction, this definition of genre, has been totally ignored by the R&RHoF but it's now just tiring. Rename the organization "The Pop Music[^1] Hall of Fame" already. Or induct Celine Dion in the Hip Hop Hall of Fame. Or Circle of Dead Children in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
• The MC5, twice-nominated for recognition, receive the R&RHoF's Award for Music Excellence…what the hell is that?! A weak, choke-on-this chicken bone tossed out to Detroit's beloved proto-punk band. Maybe they're waiting for Dennis Thompson to kick before inducting the group proper (Body Count 2024: guitarist Wayne Kramer and ex-manager John Sinclair, RIP).

Okay, I'm done. Ceeeeeeelebrate, good times, c'mon!

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[^1]: "Pop Music" in the broader, catch-all, non-classical popular music sense and not as genre.

From the 2014 film, Frank. Don't tell me you've never seen it…

Fiddley-Digits-Itchy-Britches BONUS:

• Michael Fassbinder and The Soronprfbs - I Love You All

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Happy Birthday, Iggy Pop! Mostly shirtless but always dangerous since 1947!

~Mr~ ~"Gimme~ ~Danger"~ ~at~ ~Beale~ ~Street~ ~Music~ ~Festival,~ ~New~ ~Orleans,~ ~LA,~ ~2007.~
~Photo:~ ~Bill~ ~Dierssen~~.~ ~Later~ ~version(s)~ ~uploaded~ ~by~ ~Pomte~ ~at~ ~en.wikipedia.,~ ~CC-BY-SA~ ~2.5~~,~ ~via~ ~Wikimedia~ ~Commons~

How many second chances does Iggy Pop get?

-- journalist/Rolling Stone editor David Fricke on Iggy and The Stooges' Ready To Die

[…]the man doesn't seem to know how to sell out, even when he tries[…]

-- journalist Mark Deming on Iggy's Party

Mr Dichotomy, the Peanut-Butter-Smeared One himself has said…

I just got sick of listening to idiot thugs with guitars banging out crappy music.^1^3

"Idiot thugs with guitars" or not, Iggy's still got the goods…and the voice…

The-Shadow-Of-Your-Smile BONUS:

• Iggy Pop - Strung Out Johnny

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Today is made for Love. 🥰 💘 🥰 Can't you feel it in the air?

Happy Anniversary wishes to The Queen of The Universe and Action Man! 💞 Today's song is dedicated to the two of you. 💓

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Bombast. Pompous. Schmaltz. Over The Top.

…but in a good way.

How else could you describe the career of musician/composer/producer Jim Steinman, who passed away three years ago today in 2021.

Steinman stole every 1950s Rock 'N Roll teenage romance trope he could think of and subverted them; like making out in the dark, Steinman turned on the high-beams to reveal the saliva, pimples and—gasp!—commitment. He wrote songs' titles first like comic book editors do with cover art, the logic being to grab a potential listener's attention and then flesh out the actual song. But he could write a killer lyric as well…

Started swearing to my god and on my mother's grave
That I would love you to the end of time
I swore I would love you to the end of time!

So now I'm praying for the end of time
To hurry up and arrive
'Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you
I don't think that I can really survive

-- From "Paradise By The Dashboard Light," Bat Out Of Hell, Meat Loaf, 1978

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart

-- From "Total Eclipse of The Heart," Faster Than the Speed of Night, Bonnie Tyler, 1983

Regarding the operatic Bat Out Of Hell, the evergreen hit album from which today's song originates, it was shopped around and turned down by everybody, but everybody! Former manager David Sonenberg joked that record labels were created just to turn them down![^1] Meanwhile, it's gone on to sell over 43 million copies worldwide since its release in 1978.

Singer Meat Loaf, whose fame was arguably in tandem with Steinman's songwriting, died only nine months after Steinman. Instead of putting it down to cosmic indifference and mere coincidence, I like to think their connection was so ingrained, however strained during their careers, they just couldn't live without one another.

Now that's Steinman.

[^1]: 1999, Classic Albums documentary, Meat Loaf: Bat Out of Hell

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From Trunk Records…

This is the only album by the group. Assembled by percussion teacher Ron Forbes in 1976, the average age of the students was just 14. They came from a few of the schools in the area, including the Cults Academy, Ellon Academy, Aboyne Academy, Inverurie Academy and Powis.

Over the years the original privately pressed album has achieved a little notoriety, not just because of the very beautiful music, but also because of the notable presence of one future star[…]when I investigated the album, there was scant information about anywhere. […] It seemed very much below the musical radar of just about everyone.

Encore!-Encore! BONUS:

• Cults Percussion Ensemble - Percussion Suite (3rd Movement)

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Totally unrelated: is it me or does 20^th^ century pop star Sting these days look just like a certain spinach-eating sailor?

Making up for the lack of slide guitar in these posts…and what a pretty slide guitar it is.

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I can't find the original source but the old saw goes something like this…

I was listening to a Philip Glass symphony for ten hours straight until I realized the LP skipped.

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Suffer, b🤬tches! 🤣

• MOAR!!!

• XMAS MOAR!!!

But, Mom, @downhomechunk@midwest.social started it!

came on as I rolled down the highway today. random 70s shuffle. not speeding at all, much

Forgive me if you've heard this one before…

Songs-Lou-Didn't-Write BONUS:

• The Kills - Wild Charms

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From-The-Packard-Factory-To-Kingston BONUS:

• Letter to the Editor [Official Music Video] (scroll down for di words)

Pure genius. The arriving menace…the distant thunder of the tribe coming up over the hill. Cinerama for your ears. Said to be played by producer/composer/musician Mark Ronson before recording sessions…

[…]Ronson still plays Dog Eat Dog to new artists he produces as an example of what their music needs to live up to. ^1

[…]he finds that song extraordinary and that he plays it before every session to get into the mood. ^2

When-Showbiz-Is-A-Dirty-Word BONUS:

• Adam and The Ants - Scorpios

Davis (or Miles, as the "truly hip" say) at this point of his career pretty much eschewed traditional compositional structure. With a swirling electron shell of sidemen and collaborators—in this performance, angular guitarist Pete Cosey and jazz great, drummer Al Foster—Davis, er, Miles transformed jazz's parry-and-thrust improvisations into rolling, lava-lamp clouds of mood. Many times, more times than it should have, it all gelled into moments of genius.

Just-For-The-Funk-Of-It BONUS:

• ~~The Clinton Family Singers~~ The P-Funk All-Stars: NPR Tiny Desk Concert

Free your mind…

Some second-wave OG from the WC hippity-hop non-stop I let the needle drop on the juicer, producer, the Tupac introducer…

RIP Shock G (AKA Humpy Hump).

If-You're-Dirty-Go-Take-A-Bath BONUS:

• Digital Underground - Doowutchyalike