OLD MUSIC

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Ope3 said:
Doesn't quite feel like Christmas is right around the corner with the mild weather, but here is one to jump start the festive spirit:

The Crystals / Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

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If we're going this route Ope, I say let's highlight the whole album-not just the best Christmas album of all-time, but an all-time classic, any time of year.

If I have it correct, Darlene Love came onto the David Letterman show nearly every year (maybe every year, from the beginning?) to sing Track #11, Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). In the final season, she brought down the house with her rendition-and if this can't get you in the spirit, you are indeed E. Scrooge:
 

coolhandgopher said:
If we're going this route Ope, I say let's highlight the whole album-not just the best Christmas album of all-time, but an all-time classic, any time of year.

If I have it correct, Darlene Love came onto the David Letterman show nearly every year (maybe every year, from the beginning?) to sing Track #11, Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). In the final season, she brought down the house with her rendition-and if this can't get you in the spirit, you are indeed E. Scrooge:
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Indeed the whole Spector album is fantastic. All I need are that one, Johnny Mathis Merry Christmas, and the Beach Boys and I'm good.

The Darlene Love song on Letterman was always can't miss. That was as much of a tradition for me as It's a Wonderful Life. Jay Thomas (aka Eddie LeBec from Cheers) would also appear and he would tell his Lone Ranger story and they would then chuck footballs to knock the roast beef off the top of a Xmas Tree.

Love has performed the song a few times on The View since Letterman wrapped.
 

Ope3 said:
Kenny Mayne guest DJ'd on Pearl Jam radio recently. He and Jamal Crawford spun some Stevie Wonder, including this gem:

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About a week ago, there was a thread on Music Twitter about the greatest three song run by an artist/group on an album. I never answered, because I was stuck on choosing Stevie's greatest three song run. Was it from Talking Book? (You've Got It Bad Girl, Superstition, Big Brother) Innervisions? (Living for the City, Golden Lady, Higher Ground) Fulfillingness First Finale (Boogie on Reggae Woman, Creepin, You Haven't Done Nothin') Or Songs in the Key of Life? (Sir Duke, I Wish, Knocks Me Off My Feet)

I know it's been said time and time and time again, but the run that Stevie had from '72-76 with those four albums (plus Music of My Mind, in March '72; Talking Book followed in October of the same year) is as sublime as what anyone else has done in contemporary music.

Alright, enough words-here's a great accompanying piece to Big Brother. Those horns! And with the Jackson 5 on backing vocals:
 

I felt like I needed to hear When The Walls Came Down before heading off to sleep:
 




Elton John's tribute to his friend John Lennon:

Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)


This week on Sirius/XM Beatles Ch, they had Sean Lennon talking with Elton, Julian Lennon and Paul McCartney. It's really good.

In the interview Elton mentions (as he does in this clip also) that the song is so emotional, that he rarely plays it live.
 

Thinking about the sad loss of Jason Molina lately. He wrote some really heart rending tunes. The specter of his drinking and his inevitable death hovers over so much of his work it can be hard to listen to.

 

I remember when finally getting my MTV in 1983 or so, this and Crosby/Bowie were about the only Christmas tunes that were in rotation.

Greg Lake I Believe In Father Christmas:

 



Dragon was an early/mid ‘80s band from New Zealand that had a minor hit in the U.S. that was a massive hit in Peru and still gets played on the radio, just heard it this morning. It’s quite a catchy tune, when I first heard it, the singer’s voice conjured thoughts of Paul Westerberg:
 

I'm sure I've posted this before...maybe even in this same thread, but fuck it. I have this album (from my birth year!), and it's sooooo good. Steve & Edie, Bing, Babs, Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, Percy Faith, Jan Peerce, Mahalia Jackson, Ray Coniff...and to show they're not fooling around, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It doesn't get much better than this.

 









While not really a Metallica fan, this is a great song and always brings to mind Mariano Rivera. From this past Sunday's Colbert show:

 


tikited said:
I saw this a while ago. Ringo is far from the best drummer ever, but he was a great drummer for sure.
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I'm someone who's more into musicality than virtuosity, so what he brought to that band is right in my wheelhouse. In my opinion he was the soul of the Beatles.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I'm someone who's more into musicality than virtuosity, so what he brought to that band is right in my wheelhouse. In my opinion he was the soul of the Beatles.
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He brought a special 'interest' to drumming imo. Little things but always not ordinary. It's hard to explain. I thought Chris Mars of The Replacements had that interesting quality as well.
 

I think Ringo's genius lies in his subtlety; he understands how his instrument fits within a song and creatively works within that balance. I think all the Beatles shared this quality. Contrast that with a band like, say, The Who. While great, sometimes it feels like the various instruments are all battling with each other for the spotlight.
 

tikited said:
He brought a special 'interest' to drumming imo. Little things but always not ordinary. It's hard to explain. I thought Chris Mars of The Replacements had that interesting quality as well.
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Nokomis said:
I think Ringo's genius lies in his subtlety; he understands how his instrument fits within a song and creatively works within that balance. I think all the Beatles shared this quality. Contrast that with a band like, say, The Who. While great, sometimes it feels like the various instruments are all battling with each other for the spotlight.
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My fav--Stewart Copeland--had a different way of doing things, too: what he calls playing ahead of the beat. Like Ringo, he lent a percussion element to his band that made them that much more distinctive and brilliant.

Interestingly, Keith Moon is almost the anti-Ringo in that his percussion was non-stop, not worrying about stepping on vocals or letting the song breathe. Yet, those two were great friends, and Ringo chose Moon to teach his son how to play. That's how Zak ended up as the perfect drummer for the Who's reunion tour several years ago.
 

Bad Gopher said:
My fav--Stewart Copeland--had a different way of doing things, too: what he calls playing ahead of the beat. Like Ringo, he lent a percussion element to his band that made them that much more distinctive and brilliant.

Interestingly, Keith Moon is almost the anti-Ringo in that his percussion was non-stop, not worrying about stepping on vocals or letting the song breathe. Yet, those two were great friends, and Ringo chose Moon to teach his son how to play. That's how Zak ended up as the perfect drummer for the Who's reunion tour several years ago.
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One thing about Moon is that he absolutely lucked out in playing with Entwistle, who was so good he didn't need a conventional timekeeper. Entwistle was so great that he could simultaneously play the the bass like a lead instrument and hold down the band in the middle of Moon's tornado. Plus Townshend didn't play a lot of conventional solos so there was plenty of room for the rest of the band to cut loose.

As for Ringo, I feel like we are past the stage where he is mocked or even underrated. There's been lots of jokes and commentary about that over the years but I fell like the needle has more than swung back and he's generally appreciated for being absolutely right for the Beatles.
 



Now that Daft Punk has called it quits...

Who besides them, Steely Dan (Gaucho), and The Beatles (Abbey Road) has finished their career with arguably their best release?
 


This fantastic Husker Du video had to have a budget of at least triple figures. Makes No Sense At All / Love Is All Around:


Also, stage diving. Yeah, that was a thing.

 

I've always liked the drive by Twin Cities views in the Make No Sense At All video. Perfect.
 

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