Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Break out the 45s ~ National One-Hit Wonder Day is coming!

 

Break out YouTube or Spotify and take yourself back on Sunday, September 25th. It's National One-Hit Wonder Day.

When I think of one-hit wonders, my brain usually goes straight to "Sunglasses at Night" sung by Corey Hart or "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners. They both came out in my formative musical years of junior high, which is probably why I remember them first.

But as I was doing research--looking at lists of one-hit wonders from various decades--I was reminded of so many songs I enjoyed growing up, as well as songs I didn't discover until the last five or six years when I explored musical genres a little more.

There were a couple of songs that seemed to end up on most of the lists I checked out. "Take On Me" by A-Ha for one as well as "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies that I heard even before "Sunglasses at Night" and "Come on Eileen."

What surprised me most during my trip down musical memory lane was which songs were actually one hit wonders. I like music a lot, but I'm not a connoisseur. Meaning I enjoy the musical experience but I don't generally follow / track the musician, the albums, the musical trajectories, etc. I've bought very few albums in my life, because I could never see spending $15 to have access to a single song I really enjoyed. The advent of iTunes (and other platforms like them) and the ability to buy a single song was amazing to me. To this day I ask for iTunes gift cards--alas, I haven't gotten one in ages.

Did you know that "Me and Mrs. Jones" by Billy Paul, "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum, "Wipe Out" by The Surfaris, and "Monster Mash" by Bobby Boris Pickett and the Crypt Kickers were all one-hit wonders? Apparently they were. Who knew? lol

There were quite a few others from my junior high and high school years, but I won't bore you with a rundown of those song titles.

It seems like most of the original lists I looked at didn't include country music. Which--why not?

But they didn't, so I looked up those as well and would you believe, Billy Ray Cyrus's hit, "Achey, Breaky Heart" was listed. I was surprised by that, but according to one list, the massive fame of that one song took its toll on Bill Ray and it took him decades to really recover.

Of course, many online entities (Rolling Stone, EW, Spotify, etc) have their own thoughts on which one-hit wonders are the best. And, again, many list several of the same songs, especially the classics from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

I had intended to pick a favorite, but alas I don't think I can. I did want to leave you with a song to listen to if you were so inclined. It was tough to choose just one, but I opted to leave with this:

"Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin, not Bob Marley...

Have a super weekend.

 

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Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Musical Tastes...


As I was pondering today's blog topic on my way to work this morning, I was also sliding up and down the radio stations hoping for something worth listening to.

That of course is subjective, but what I realized is that my musical tastes have changed over the years. I grew up on country and still enjoy a country song or two. I have an eclectic selection in my iTunes library that I put on shuffle while I work and (mostly) listen to whatever starts playing--unless it's the two-hour waves white noise track or one of the handful audio books I have. This get fast-forwarded to the next song.

But when I'm in the car I will always choose the alternative rock station over the classic rock, pop rock, or country station.

Do you listen to the same stuff you've always listened to or have you expanded your horizons?

Have a great week...see you Friday.
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Friday, June 30, 2017

Do you listen to the radio?


I don't very often and I've been reminded why-- And it's not the commercials!

Since we bought the new car and I have Bluetooth capability and can easily and automatically listen to my random playlists, I generally don't listen to the radio. I mean, why would I?

But I cleaned up my phone and was having difficulty getting my music on my phone via iTunes, so I left the issue for another day and selected the oldies station for my ride to work the other day.

And then I remembered why listening to the radio at least during the standard commute times is so frustrating...

Because there isn't that much music being played. There are morning shows and traffic reports and, of course, commercials.

I don't need traffic reports because I live ten minutes from the house and take back roads all the way.

The morning shows are filled with ridiculous prattle about TV shows I don't watch and inane chatter about things I don't care about.

Commercials...well, we all probably all feel similarly about them. 

Only the classical station really plays music all the time, with breaks for weather and traffic, of course, but it's not overwhelming, and I do like classical music.

Do you listen to the radio? What's your genre/station type of preference?



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Wednesday, May 3, 2017

The Sound of Music...


Or, rather, the sound of instruments.

Often, I have to listen to plug in my earbuds and listen to something when I go to bed because, either, I'm too awake to fall asleep and I really need to, or my brain won't stop even though I'm super tired.

On occasion, I listen to Benedict Cumberbatch narrating an audio book, because he's got a great voice.

Mostly, though, I listen to the soundtrack to the seventh Harry Potter movie. Even after the dozens of times I've listened to the first handful of songs (I'm usually asleep after three to five of them, so...they serve the purpose), I still listen carefully and try to identify which instrument creates which sounds and effects. Some are easy. Some not so much.

Several years ago, the Led Zepplin song "All Of My Love" came across my radar via the radio station I was listening to at the time and there's a musical interlude somewhere in the middle. I would have bet money that trumpets (or some sort of brass instrument) played a big part in it.


Except, when I had Sonshine listen to the song, he claimed it was a pipe organ. Which--huh-- During subsequent listens, I could hear how, yes, it could be a pipe organ. But, then again, it still sounds like trumpets to me.

Anyone else, play that sort of game with music?



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Wednesday, May 18, 2016

"Take Me to Church"


In my wanderings around the internet, I came across this song--well, I came across a video first, but the song spoke to me too. I thought I'd share...

The song is "Take Me to Church" by Hozier. It's a political statement and it's a powerful song.

The first video is the official music video and the second is what came to my attention first.




I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.


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Monday, January 25, 2016

A smart phone FTW!!!


So it took me a while to get on the smart phone train, and even then I had to be thrown on. DH forced me to upgrade for business reasons.


But I have one and I use it. It's bigger around than my old little slider and I can't work it one-handed without both eyes on my hand and the phone. So absolutely no driving/phone anything.

But other than that, it's a like having a personal assistant in your pocket. I can write notes or I can dictate notes!! I've downloaded a few apps, including a couple of games, as well as my favorite social media platform. Of course it lets me text the kiddos. I get weather alerts when something's going on within 25 miles of me. And I have access to all my email...

I don't have a lot of alerts turned on, so I'm not being barraged by sound every time something comes through--only text messages and the weather--and when I'm out with people, the phone is in my purse like it's always been. I never wanted to be that person, and I'll be vigilant to never becoming that person.

But at home, when I take the dog out in the yard...I can text my kids, or heck even TALK to them if I want, check email, surf the web, read a book, listen to music, or make notes about my plots and characters... I've fallen to the dark side. :)


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Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Bolero!


So this post topic has been niggling at me for a while now, so here it finally is...


Who remembers the 1984 Winter Olympics, specifically the Pairs Ice Skating event. Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean performed their free-style program to a specially adapted version of Maurice Ravel's Boléro and took home the gold. If winning gold wasn't enough, they earned the highest marks ever for figure skaters in a single performance, garnering all sixes for artistic impression. A record that still holds as of this post.

I was 13 1/2 at the time of the '84 Winter Olympics and this performance is one of the few TV moments I actually really remember from my childhood.

If you're so inclined to re-watch an amazing moment in history...


The actual impetus for this post happened last year. I was on my way home from a friend's house one evening and had the classical station on. The station was airing a simulcast from Berlin and halfway home, Bolero began to pour forth from my speakers. I turned up the volume a bit to really enjoy the performance as well as the song itself. I even sat in the car in the driveway until the song finally wound to a close. The original composition lasts anywhere from 15 to 17 minutes.

The one thing I learned at the end of that performance that totally amazed me was this fact...

The song begins and ends with the snare drum and it continues throughout the entire song and by the time all is said and done, the snare drum player has performed over 10,000 beats! WOW!

Do you remember this performance when it originally aired?

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Wednesday, November 14, 2012

The Movie Music of John Williams


This past Sunday, Sonshine and I had ourselves a date. We traveled across the metroplex (thank goodness it was Sunday) to the Allen Performing Arts Center to hear the Dallas Wind Symphony perform music that John Williams composed for various movies, in addition to the Liberty Fanfare he wrote for the re-dedication of the Statue if Liberty back in 1986.

His most famous piece is probably the Star Wars theme even though it is not his first movie collaboration. (For your listening pleasure:)


We also heard:

"Out to Sea" and "The Shark Cage Fugue" from JAWS.
The Superman March
"Victor's Tale" from The Terminal
"Adventures on Earth" from E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
"Harry's Wondrous World" from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
"Hymn to the Fallen" from Saving Private Ryan
The Midway March
"The Adventures of Mutt" from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crustal Skull

Sonshine and I both enjoyed it tremendously. I was hoping he'd be a bit more inspired with his own music, but, alas, while he was suitably impressed with the music, it wasn't enough to make him break out the French horn when we got home.

The Allen PAC was part of a regular old high school. A gorgeous performing arts high school. It's a beautiful facility and sported a radio station, a couple of TV studios, a culinary arts wing, and a 644 member band! I wish Sonshine could attend a school like that. Ah, well...

Done anything fun with your kid/s recently?


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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Hello World

After too many years to admit too, I finally have a doctors appointment. It's just for a general physical to start and then we'll work up to gynecological visits. But I'm paying an outrageous amount for health care that I never use so I've decided to finally get my butt in gear.

I've been doing a bit of housekeeping in my iTunes, removing all the stuff that belongs to my kids that I don't like and giving it back to them. I maintain two copies of my collection, one on the business server where space is really not an issue and the other on my laptop where space is at a premium. And I'm one of those anal personalities who wants my two collections to match (except for my TV show/movie collection which would fill my laptop hard drive twice over). So I have been weeding through.

The one big project I have been working on for over a week is almost finished. It won't ever be completely done, but the big annual rush of a certain task is almost over. *whew* That's been a bit of a stresser for me.

Next up, a meeting at Dallas Cowboys Stadium in preparation for working the Super Bowl, including a motivational talk by Jerry Jones himself. I doubt I'll get to meet him personally, but on the off chance I do, I'm going to ask him why it's such a problem to get a decent broom and dust pan in the stand (that I don't have to share with the neighboring stand) so I can clean his multi-billion dollar investment properly.

The weather is warming up. I drove to work this am with the windows slightly down to enjoy the fresh, cool morning air. Had the heat on my feet, tho. :)

How are things with you?
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Friday, November 6, 2009

Music and writing...

First off, let me just say how much I love music. I tend to forget for long stretches, but then something happens to make me remember.

Last week, I played chaperon for my son's band when they went and played with the high school band at a football game. Unfortunately, the middle schoolers tend to get bored because they haven't been given all the music the HS band has--only some, so obviously they can only play the songs they know. The high schoolers get to play continuously for the most, the drummers drum and the others pick up tunes and randomly play whatever comes to mind. They have fun and get to be artistic. And there's nothing like seeing truly creative people create. So while the HS band is jammin' spontaneously, the middle schoolers sit and wait, not always so patiently.

But the point was--these high schoolers were seriously talented. I really enjoyed listening to them and was reminded how much I enjoy listening to these types of bands.

In the same vein, my sister-in-law introduced us to the TV show "Glee," which is about a high school Glee club struggling to earn respect both in the school and on the competition circuit. There are musical numbers in every episode, most of which I have enjoyed tremendously, again being reminded how up listening to music generally makes me.

My second topic is writing...I've been writing again. I made the commitment to get up at five am each morning and write till six-thirty. So far so good. And if I get to write at any time during the day or evening, so much the better. Plus, Candy Havens has The Writing Game going on on the workshop loop again, so that is giving me concrete word goals to hit each day. And so far, I've made each one. Today will be a bit tougher since I'm leaving for a writing conference this afternoon, but I've got words banked I can draw from if necessary, but I hope I won't have to.

Have a good weekend--I will!
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