I saw the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” recently—more about that in another post—which started me thinking about the phenomenon of rock songs that start one way and then go off in a very different direction. I don’t just mean a traditional … Continue reading →
Gladys Knight’s been in the news lately for her great rendition of the national anthem at the Superbowl, and for showing what a tool Don Lemon is: That sent me on a stroll down YouTube memory lane in search of … Continue reading →
Did you ever notice that young people sometimes write and/or perform as though they’re old? Some do it very successfully; the best example that comes to mind is T. S. Eliot—who perhaps was born old—who began writing his masterpiece “The … Continue reading →
Child singers are an interesting phenomenon. Some people like them; some don’t. Child singers can’t bring the depth of feeling to a song that someone with greater life experience can. Or can they? At least, a few of them? At … Continue reading →
Sometimes when I need some relaxing down time, I surf YouTube. A while back in my YouTube explorations, I came across what are known as “reaction videos.” They’re a strange genre in which people often rack up biggish view counts … Continue reading →
The lyrics were written in Scots dialect by the poet Robert Burns in 1788. That’s a lot of auld lang syne ago. But the song—set to a traditional folk tune—has endured, particularly at New Year’s to be sung right after … Continue reading →
[NOTE: This is a redux of a post I wrote a year ago. Apparently they’re still making a big fuss about this song, so I thought I’d revisit it.] The song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” was written in 1944 by … Continue reading →
I was looking at one of those “then and now” rock music videos, in which there are a series of clips of rock singers singing one of their old hit songs when it was new and then singing it again … Continue reading →
Commenter “Philip” brought up the composer Dvorak in the comments of a previous thread today, and I replied by adding video of a well-known Dvorak string quartet known as the “American Quartet,” which has long been one of my favorites. … Continue reading →
I saw a production of “Jersey Boys” recently in southern Maine at the Ogunquit Playhouse. It’s still going on, but apparently it’s sold out or almost sold out for the rest of the run—and no wonder, because watching it is … Continue reading →
I love this guy. Love, love, love. I once took about eight voice lessons before I quit in despair, and maybe if he’d been my voice teacher I would have improved rather than gotten worse over the course of my … Continue reading →
She had a troubled life in certain ways, but boy could that woman ever sing. Most people think of “Respect” as Aretha Franklin’s anthem, and I suppose it was. I liked a great many of her songs very much—including that … Continue reading →