They laughed when she stood up to…
…sing:
Continue reading →Category Archives: Music
The Girl From Ipanema returns
[NOTE: While we’re talking about Brazil (and why not? I’m tired of talking about Obama) let’s revisit an old post of mine with a Brazilian theme: “Lost in translation: the girl from Ipamema.”] A while back we had a discussion … Continue reading →
Doing the ipod shuffle
The ipod is a wonderful invention, especially for those of us old enough to remember when the music collection of the typical adolescent consisted of just a few scratchy but beloved vinyl records. If someone had told me back then … Continue reading →
Beware: earworm ahead
Read this at your peril. It’s a list of the ten most supposedly earworm-inducing rock songs. Luckily I’m so out of touch that I don’t know most of them. I was thinking of listing my ten most earworm inducing songs, … Continue reading →
Bow, bow, to the President-elect
Ever since Obama began sporting this sort of sign it’s put me in mind of “The Mikado:” In fact, in connection with any sort of governmental and legal ridiculousness, you can hardly go wrong if you think of “The Mikado.” … Continue reading →
Valerie and Cecilia and…
Ah, those bad girls, Valerie and Cecilia. They remind me a bit of each other. First we have Valerie: Now Cecilia (I looked for a live version, but the few on You Tube were really bad, so I settled for … Continue reading →
RIP Odetta
I just learned via American Digest that the folksinger Odetta has died at the age of seventy-seven. In my youth, I saw her perform at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village. Since that was quite some time ago, I suppose … Continue reading →
Defending Richard Thompson
Okay, I tolerate a lot of dissent here. But some statements are simply unconscionable. Case in point, “Tom” on Richard Thompson: Why is it so many skilled musicians are considered “songwriters” when their lyrics are simply so stupid? I’d prefer … Continue reading →
Can’t get enough Richard Thompson?
So here’s some more, for your viewing and listening pleasure. For those of you who play guitar, you might want to study how it is that he makes the difficult seem so easy. Nice closeups of Thompson’s hands and face. … Continue reading →
Whatever happened to really silly pop songs?
They were called “novelty songs,” although I didn’t know it at the time. They occupied a special niche that doesn’t seem to exist anymore in this far less innocent age: a nonsensical bubble-gum type of music/lyrics, meant mostly to amuse … Continue reading →
Tango: by a horse’s head
You may recall my disastrous efforts to learn to tango, chronicled here. But I still enjoy the dance as spectator, and the other evening I had the good fortune to attend a thrilling tango performance. Which made me think of … Continue reading →
Voices of distinction: Seeger, Lennon, Simone, Thompson
I was listening to the radio the other day and heard an ad for a Pete Seeger concert. Pete Seeger? He’s still alive? And singing? I thought he must be a thousand years old now, because he already seemed old … Continue reading →