Open thread 4/2/21
Here are the Bee Gees on Australian TV at around ages 13 or 14 for the twins and around 16 or 17 for Barry, who wrote the song. This is three or four years later, in England. Big changes. Here … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Music
The REO Brothers – musical chameleons
I’m not really big on tribute bands. I much prefer the original versions of songs, and the internet gives us rapid access to most of those. So why bother with a group that tries to re-create that? Who cares? The … Continue reading →
Let’s ride the City of New Orleans one more time
My post on the song “City of New Orleans” got a lot of comments, and what’s more that sort of thing is a wonderful respite from political angst. So, since I have even more to say on the subject, why … Continue reading →
“The City of New Orleans”
Most of you probably are familiar with the rousing and elegiac Americana classic “City of New Orleans.” It was a big hit for Arlo Guthrie in 1972, and has been covered by a great many people. It’s one of those … Continue reading →
The zeitgeist has passed me by
Actually, I’m not sure I ever was fully with the program, even when I was young. But in the last couple of years, as I watch the world from my perch here at a computer in New England, I’ve become … Continue reading →
Close harmony: Part IIC (the Bee Gees continued)
[NOTE: You knew it was coming, didn’t you?] One of the things that seems to separate Bee Gee lovers from Bee Gee non-lovers (or even Bee Gee haters, of which there are quite a few) is tolerance for emotion in … Continue reading →
Frankie Valli is hanging on
I believe he’s 86 years old here: By the way – yes, I always liked The Four Seasons in my early youth, along with the Everlys and Roy Orbison, and some of the Motown groups. Do I especially like falsetto … Continue reading →
Reaction videos: the Bee Gees “Too Much Heaven” through young ears
If you’re unfamiliar with the genre of the reaction video, it involves a song – usually one popular between the 1950s through the 1980s, but it can be any song – which a person listens to for the first time … Continue reading →
Wild World
Love this song, love this guy’s energy and his discussion of the song. It is indeed a “rather peculiar” melody, but it sure does work: [ADDENDUM: Here’s an older post of mine about Cat Stevens.]
Continue reading →Open thread 3/3/21
I’m baaaack! Yesterday’s shot took much longer than I thought it would – not the shot itself, but waiting in line in the car. By the time I got back I felt like chilling out rather than writing, and even … Continue reading →
Close harmony: Part IIB (the Bee Gees – how do they make that sound?)
[NOTE: Part I can be found here and Part IIA here.] As I’ve written before, until recently all I knew about the Bee Gees were a few of their disco-era songs and a vague recollection of longish hair, and I … Continue reading →
Remove that blindfold: a metaphor for “equity”
[Hat tip: commenter “huxley”.] It strikes me that this is a good metaphor for what’s been happening to the idea of justice at the hands of the campaign for “equity” [emphasis mine]: For decades leading symphony orchestras have used “blind … Continue reading →