Chaos Tamer
A few days ago I heard Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca on the radio.
My brain, being what it is, wondered if Weird Al had created a Livin’ La Vida Polka version of the song. A few minutes with Google showed me that, no, Al hadn’t. And isn’t likely to. (Check out the Reddit post for the details).
But, fortunately for us, a group called The Brats (as in Brautwurst, I believe), stepped into the void.
That’s the weird way my brain works. I hope this brightens your Sunday (Monday-eve).
My friend Bill wrote a post a few days ago about the passing of Damo Suzuki, singer for the German rock band Can. I’ve always had a thing for quirky and eclectic music, so I was a bit bummed I hadn’t so much as heard of Can before now. So I commented such, and Bill recommended this album to me to learn more about them.
I doubt many of you know that my first major in college was music. I listened intensely, absorbing how the instrumentation and chordal structure were communicating emotional energy. Sadly, I got out of practice for that kind of listening ages ago. But, back in the 80s, I studied lots of artists in depth. Not just pop, but Jazz, latin, classical, funk…my list was pretty extensive. I would give anything to have notes back from those days.
Can has a solid funk feel to me. I really enjoy the driving, repetitive bass tracks, and fluid drumming.
What struck me even deeper, though, was how easy it is to discover new music. Bill made a post, shared a YouTube video of a song. I listened, made a comment on his blog, Bill recommended an album to check out, and YouTube served that up to me instantly. All within a few-minute timeframe.
I remember getting together with friends and listening to records/CDs, and tapes. If I really liked the song, I’d see about borrowing a copy until I could buy one. In my little Seattle suburb, getting anything other than Top 40 generally meant a trip to Seattle. There was a cool record show really close to UW, and I believe the iconic Tower Records was serving Seattle’s music community back then. I love how easy it is now to discover new (old?) music.
Onwards!
Years ago, I grew weary of all the tropes around Halloween. I mean, come on! How many times can you listen to Monster Mash? Well, as someone who values creativity and innovation, my tolerance is low for repetition. So, I created my own playlist.
So, I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think, and if there’s anything I should add.
Well, today was greeted with tough news: Gordon Lightfoot has passed away.
Lightfoot has been part of my pop-culture awareness as long as said awareness existed. For me, it was his gift of story-telling that held the most power. Songs such as The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald were part of my heart for, it seems, forever. I was pretty young when he was at his heyday, and his music seemed omnipresent.
I’m filled with sadness as another icon of my youth has died. Yet, I’m grateful that his music was such a rich part of my life.
It will not be hard to find his music over the next few days, especially his hits. So I feel compelled to feature a song that is lesser know, but one that I find delightful: Alberta Bound.
Alberta Bound seemed, to me, to be the theme song for the Alberta Winter Olympics of 1988. And something about that spoke deeply to me. So, I’m delighted to share something lesser known.
May we all find joy in his music and legacy. Godspeed, Gordon Lightfoot.
Music plays a huge part in my life. One of my “gifts” is the ability to tie pretty much any phrase, event, or whatever with a song. I’ve had plenty of opportunities this week.
I’m currently working on a project with the Edmonds Waterfront Center. They have several musical activities over the course of each week. And I can hear these from my office. One of my favorites: a ukulele class. They play a wide range of songs, which often transforms me in place in time. The ukulele is a wonderful instrument that I delight in hearing. With this, I was explaining to a chum about some of the artists who have created albums with the instrument. The two that readily come to mind are Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam fame and Amanda Palmer.
Eddie has a great ukulele album titled, less creatively (I guess) “Ukulele Songs“. This is, perhaps, my favorite from that album.
Amanda Palmer has written some fun songs for the instrument. This one is my current favorite (FYI, not completely safe for work).
A few days later, a friend of mine mentioned her drink of choice was tequila. That always make me think of this song:
And, yesterday, while seeing article after article about AI, this song popped into my head.
Affiliating songs with events is not something I work at, just natural reflex. The results of my misspent youth, I guess.
This morning this tweet dropped into my feed:
I grew up with Mr. Diamond’s music. My mother had many of his albums. I was saddened when he retired. So this video filled me with joy. It’s a bit sad, too, as I can see some of the impacts of Parkinsons. But, man, such grace and courage.
Oh, and here’s a link to the video on YouTube for those not engaged with Twitter, or in case the Twitter dumpster fire finally takes that site down.
If you’ve read my blog for a while, you’re probably aware I think highly of Wil Wheaton. If not, I have written about him a number of times. Well, today he penned another post that got my nostalgia going: “sweet and tender hooligan“. One element of this essay that really struck me was about a young woman, who is named “Kara”. First loves, when it’s love and not just lust, are powerful things in lives. And, as Wil’s, Kara holds the place well. In a beautifully written way, Mr. Wheaton shows how she expanded his world in so many rich, deep ways. The kind of person we all want in our lives and should strive to be in the lives of others. Anyway, give it a read: it’s well worth it.
I didn’t have a “Kara”, exactly. I had several elements, though. There was a girl when I was in high school, a senior when I was a sophomore, who was much the same for me. I didn’t have a crush on her but thought she was massively cool. Very goth, quite radical for my little suburb of Seattle. She didn’t shave her legs! Another alien notion to me at that point. Though not a one-on-one relationship, she invited me to hang out with her senior friends. This crew introduced me to Rocky Horror, and bands like Roxy Music, The Jam, The Clash…and that’s only what I remember. There had to be more, but sadly the brain cells holding those memories have evaporated. Up to this point in my life, I had limited musical exposure. Top 40, that’s it. And that mostly meant disco (though I’ve developed an appreciation now, it was not really my…um…favorite back then). These folks opened my eyes in ways that dramatically changed me, some in ways that I’m still working on understanding. And, for that, I’m grateful. Like Wil is to Kara.
The playlist below features a few songs that this post brought to mind. These are some key songs by some key bands. I hope you enjoy!
I loved this song back in the early 90s (I probably still have this CD somewhere in my “stuff”). I remember the video. I don’t remember Keanu Reeves in it, though. Someone else shared this today, which is when I noticed him.
Who would’ve guessed, looking at Keanu Reeve’s early work (yes, that’s Keanu in this video), that he would become the powerhouse that he is now? I certainly didn’t.
https://youtu.be/LNPb931HqeM
Pretty much every morning I wake with a song in my mind. Sometimes it’s simply my latest auditory obsession. Sometimes I think it’s my subconscious “telling me something”. This morning I woke with Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” on earworm. I’m not sure if my brain has a message for me or this just a song I’ve long loved popping back into my awareness. But it’s not unwelcome.
Now this this would be a Zoom meeting I’d enjoy deeply.