Yes, I was – and still am – a fan of the Albany-based party-rock band Blotto. I bought their records when I was a teenager in high school; I played their records when I was an undergraduate at college; and I saw them perform on stage at various concerts in the Albany area. If I…
Read MoreAll articles filed in Music
It’s EVERYBODY and the Sunshine Band!!
Okay. I need a major pick-me-up. I need some music that actually rocks me from my toes to my nose. And this morning, I found the track. As performed by an all-star group. Well, an all-star group assembled by online remixer DJ Cummerbund. See, DJ Cummerbund took the classic 1970’s K.C. and the Sunshine Band…
Read MoreThat time Midnight Oil stopped traffic in New York City
There’s a fantastic documentary airing on Australian television about the legacy and history of the rock band Midnight Oil. Midnight Oil brought their social message to nearly every song in their repertoire, and brought it with conviction and passion and strength. Even though the documentary hasn’t arrived in the United States – yet – here’s…
Read MoreIt’s “Subways Of Your Mind” by FEX? Well, that explains EVERYTHING.
You have to love those Internet mysteries. The ones where someone uncovers some mysterious fragment of a historic artifact, and the Internet’s hive mind tries to uncover the mystery. Well, such a mystery was revealed last weekend. Follow along with me. In 1983, a German radio station played its usual mix of new wave and…
Read MoreVale Alan Mansfield
The Facebook post hit me like a punch in the kidney. I’m reposting it here verbatim. From the Sharon O’Neill Facebook fan page. “Kia ora everyone, Yesterday morning I lost the love of my life, Alan. His daughter Lauren and I were with him and he passed comfortably and peacefully. Alan battled for three years…
Read MoreSly and the Family Stone … in French?!?
You can fall down the YouTube rabbit hole in an instant, and once you’re there … hoo boy you can find some amazing things. Such as this classic 1968 jam by Sly and the Family Stone. You know it, you love it, here it is. Well, when the record company demanded a follow-up to this…
Read MoreThou shalt not plagiarize Blotto.
The world of pop music has been littered with potholes of plagiarism. A hundred years ago, the song “Yes! We Have No Bananas” took the melody of G.F. Handel’s “Hallelujah” chorus for a Tin Pan Alley refrain. George Harrison’s song “My Sweet Lord” was found to be too close in melody and structure to the…
Read More“Weird Al” Yankovic: Polkas, Parodies, and the Power of Satire
NOTE: This was originally published in Goldmine magazine in 2000. Article written by Chuck Miller. Al Yankovic strapped on his accordion, ready to perform. All he had to do was impress some talent directors, and he would be on The Gong Show, on stage with Chuck Barris and the Unknown Comic and Jaye P. Morgan…
Read MoreBeyoncé’s “Jolene” challenged by Roy Orbison’s version of “Jolene”
In an unexpected twist that nobody saw coming, the country music world is stunned by a current “cover war” over the recording of Dolly Parton’s classic song “Jolene.” Over the weekend, Beyoncé’s reinterpretation of the song “Jolene” slammed into the #1 spot on Spotify’s charts, as well as the #1 spot on Billboard magazine’s country…
Read MoreJoe and Paul – the bilingual song that was too risque for radio!
Several years ago, I discovered this incredible CD called The Yiddish Radio Project. The CD featured extremely rare transcription discs from the Jewish radio stations that populated New York City in the 1940’s. The discs contained commercials, radio dramas, talk programs and musical numbers – but mostly commercials. Lots and lots of commercials. Heck, I…
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