Music News

[serious crayons]

And Baryshnikov!  Babs looks pretty ridiculous in her version of '80s fashion, however. 

If only her fashion choices were the dumbest thing about that video! 

[serious crayons]

Wait. Seriously? He's had Lyme disease and not dementia?

Well, I guess that's what he told Rolling Stone in 2016. He announced his retirement last year and there's a very faint hint in those stories that Lyme may not have been the only problem. I don't know -- in my seven minutes of googling the closest I could come to reliable sources were some skimpy stories in the Chicago Sun Times, People, NextAvenue and some Lyme disease website. Rolling Stone has a 2021 story but it's behind a paywall. So the best I could tell for semi-sure is that since being diagnosed with Lyme disease his memory has improved. He's retiring, but then 80 seems like a reasonable retirement age.

The dangers of googling -- I got curious and wondered when Johnny Cash recorded Hurt. He was 71. He also died that same year. I'll be 71 in eight years. What??! Eight years ago were ... well, "like yesterday" is a cliche so I'm trying to find some other way to express how short a time ago that was.

Thank god for 77-year-old Keith Richards. Or for that matter, 77-year-old Mick Jagger, who, when I saw him summer before last, looked like he could teach a fitness class.

[CellarDweller]

I always thought this one should've gotten more attention that it did.

It was on the Streets of Fire soundtrack, but it was overshadowed by Dan Hartman's "I Can Dream About You", which became a Top 10 hit.


"Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young" by Fire, Inc.

[Front-Ranger]

Did these goofy videos actually sell records?

The best part was when Baryshnikov waltzed in. I could just hear Aguirre's voice: "Well look what the wind blew in."

[CellarDweller]

Did these goofy videos actually sell records?

The best part was when Baryshnikov waltzed in. I could just hear Aguirre's voice: "Well look what the wind blew in."

In the case of Barbara Streisand - no.   Her song, "Left In The Dark" got to #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  "Emotion didn't chart at all, it may not have been released as a single.

The songs I listed in my original post about Jim's passing included the peak positions they hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

[Jeff Wrangler]

OK, this isn't news, but it seemed the best place to share a joke at my own expense, since it's music related.

It took me I-can't-say-how-many decades until I recently figured out that the lyric is "East End boys and West End girls" (reference to areas of London).

 

(Oh, yeah. I heard Chuck's favorite song on our Eighties-Nineties station this afternoon.  )

It amazes me how many of those old songs I can "name that tune" just by the first few bars of the intro.

[CellarDweller]

(Oh, yeah. I heard Chuck's favorite song on our Eighties-Nineties station this afternoon.  )

[serious crayons]

It amazes me how many of those old songs I can sing along to, even if I didn't like them. In fact sometimes I find myself quietly humming/singing songs I didn't like, word for word, when I'm not even listening to them. For example, if I stop in a store and they're on the Muzak, an hour later I might find myself singing them.

Occasionally, and I can't think of any real examples, I find myself singing something in connection with some other unrelated thing that happened. For example (again not a real one) I might read an article about Africa and later find myself singing Toto's "Africa."

[Jeff Wrangler]

Even on our Eighties-Nineties "oldies" station, the DJs still don't say the title of the song or who's singing it. These are songs I remember from the Eighties and Nineties and probably didn't know even then what the title was or who was singing it.

There are, of course, exceptions--like "Africa" by Toto. 

This reminds me of something I've been thinking about lately. One morning when my alarm went off, the station was playing "St. Elmo's Fire," the theme from the movie, even though it wasn't written for that. But that's it: At some places in the song, you can hear trumpets in the "background." It struck me then, something I'd never really thought about before: Somebody had to actually sit down and write this stuff. Somebody had to orchestrate it (if that's the right word for those trumpets in the background). Yes, somebody had to write the lyrics, but somebody had to write the tune and all the other things, and "back then" they probably did some of it, maybe a lot of it, on paper with musical staves printed on it.

Even a rock and roll song has a lot of musical work behind it.

BTW, I like "St. Elmo's Fire." There's a kind of galloping rhythm to it that appeals to me.

[Front-Ranger]

Good points, Jeff. Music play such a big part in our lives and we really don't appreciate what all goes into creating it.

It amazes me how many of those old songs I can sing along to, even if I didn't like them. In fact sometimes I find myself quietly humming/singing songs I didn't like, word for word, when I'm not even listening to them. For example, if I stop in a store and they're on the Muzak, an hour later I might find myself singing them.

There is a science/psychology to the music that is played in the background. Can the muzak make you so nostalgic that you buy something even though you don't need it? Probably!

Occasionally, and I can't think of any real examples, I find myself singing something in connection with some other unrelated thing that happened. For example (again not a real one) I might read an article about Africa and later find myself singing Toto's "Africa."

That happened to me just yesterday. There was a story on the radio about the Census and the "bridge" music in between stories was a silly song about "making a stand, every boy, girl, woman, and man." I'm sure you've heard it. I still can't get that out of my mind!